This messaging opening app can open and view SMS, iMessages, WhatsApp, call logs, location tracking, emails, Snapchat, Skype, photos, and more from yourself and others. Rooting is required only if you need to open messages from the non-default applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Viber, Skype, and Gmail.
I sometimes have an application open but I see no sign of it on the desktop. I only learn about it when I try to open something and I get the message 'That file or is already open.' On OS 9 macs, all open applications were shown under an icon in the top right corner. Step 1: Begin by opening two or more windows that you want to be paired in a split-screen layout: Browser windows, apps. Step 2: If you hover the cursor over the green dot, it presents two small “expand” arrows. Hold down on this green dot. Step 3: One half of your Split View is done. Tap the file you want to open and then tap Extract. This will open a list of the files in the ZIP folder. Finally, tap Done. You can access any of the files by tapping “All” at the top of your screen and then clicking the downward arrow next to the right of a file. Then tap “Open with” and choose an application. Oct 18, 2019 To open a window and see the files on your Mac, switch to the Finder by clicking the Finder icon (pictured above) in the Dock. Switching to the Finder also reveals any Finder windows that might be hidden behind the windows of other apps. You can drag to resize windows and use the buttons to close, minimize, or maximize windows. Open the Apple menu (the Apple icon in the top left corner of the display) and select Recent Items. You'll then see all recently used applications, documents, and servers. Select the item you wish to access from the list. This is not a list of frequently used items, but recently used items—a subtle but important distinction.
The Terminal app allows you to control your Mac using a command prompt. Why would you want to do that? Well, perhaps because you’re used to working on a command line in a Unix-based system and prefer to work that way. Terminal is a Mac command line interface. There are several advantages to using Terminal to accomplish some tasks — it’s usually quicker, for example. In order to use it, however, you’ll need to get to grips with its basic commands and functions. Once you’ve done that, you can dig deeper and learn more commands and use your Mac’s command prompt for more complex, as well as some fun, tasks.
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Download FreeHow to open Terminal on Mac
The Terminal app is in the Utilities folder in Applications. To open it, either open your Applications folder, then open Utilities and double-click on Terminal, or press Command - spacebar to launch Spotlight and type 'Terminal,' then double-click the search result.
You’ll see a small window with a white background open on your desktop. In the title bar are your username, the word 'bash' and the dimensions of the window in pixels. Bash stands for 'Bourne again shell'. There are a number of different shells that can run Unix commands, and on the Mac Bash is the one used by Terminal.
If you want to make the window bigger, click on the bottom right corner and drag it outwards. If you don’t like the black text on a white background, go to the Shell menu, choose New Window and select from the options in the list.
If Terminal feels complicated or you have issues with the set-up, let us tell you right away that there are alternatives. MacPilot allows to get access to over 1,200 macOS features without memorizing any commands. Basically, a third-party Terminal for Mac that acts like Finder.
For Mac monitoring features, try iStat Menus. The app collects data like CPU load, disk activity, network usage, and more — all of which accessible from your menu bar.
Basic Mac commands in Terminal
The quickest way to get to know Terminal and understand how it works is to start using it. But before we do that, it’s worth spending a little time getting to know how commands work. To run a command, you just type it at the cursor and hit Return to execute.
Every command is made up of three elements: the command itself, an argument which tells the command what resource it should operate on, and an option that modifies the output. So, for example, to move a file from one folder to another on your Mac, you’d use the move command 'mv' and then type the location of the file you want to move, including the file name and the location where you want to move it to.
Let’s try it.
Type cd ~/Documentsthen and press Return to navigate to your Home folder.
Type lsthen Return (you type Return after every command).
You should now see a list of all the files in your Documents folder — ls is the command for listing files.
To see a list of all the commands available in Terminal, hold down the Escape key and then press y when you see a question asking if you want to see all the possibilities. To see more commands, press Return.
Unix has its own built-in manual. So, to learn more about a command type man [name of command], where 'command' is the name of the command you want find out more about.
Terminal rules
There are a few things you need to bear in mind when you’re typing commands in Terminal, or any other command-line tool. Firstly, every character matters, including spaces. So when you’re copying a command you see here, make sure you include the spaces and that characters are in the correct case.
You can’t use a mouse or trackpad in Terminal, but you can navigate using the arrow keys. If you want to re-run a command, tap the up arrow key until you reach it, then press Return. To interrupt a command that’s already running, type Control-C.
Commands are always executed in the current location. So, if you don’t specify a location in the command, it will run wherever you last moved to or where the last command was run. Use the cdcommand, followed by a directory path, like in Step 1 above, to specify the folder where you want a command to run.
There is another way to specify a location: go to the Finder, navigate to the file or folder you want and drag it onto the Terminal window, with the cursor at the point where you would have typed the path.
Here’s another example. This time, we’ll create a new folder inside your Documents directory and call it 'TerminalTest.'
Open a Finder window and navigate to your Documents folder.
Type cd and drag the Documents folder onto the Terminal window.
Now, type mkdir 'TerminalTest'
Go back to the Finder, open Text Edit and create a new file called 'TerminalTestFile.rtf'. Now save it to the TerminalTest folder in your Documents folder.
In the Terminal window, type cd ~/Documents/TerminalTest then Return. Now type lsand you should see 'TerminalTestFile' listed.
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To change the name of the file, type this, pressing Return after every step:
cd~/Documents/Terminal Test
mv TerminalTestFile TerminalTestFile2.rtf
That will change the name of the file to 'TerminalTestFile2'. You can, of course, use any name you like. The mv command means 'move' and you can also use it to move files from one directory to another. In that case, you’d keep the file names the same, but specify another directory before typing the the second instance of the name, like this:
mv ~/Documents/TerminalTest TerminalTestFile.rtf ~/Documents/TerminalTest2 TerminalTestFile.rtf
More advanced Terminal commands
Terminal can be used for all sorts of different tasks. Some of them can be performed in the Finder, but are quicker in Terminal. Others access deep-rooted parts of macOS that aren’t accessible from the Finder without specialist applications. Here are a few examples.
Copy files from one folder to another
In a Terminal window, type ditto [folder 1] [folder 1] where 'folder 1' is the folder that hosts the files and 'folder 2' is the folder you want to move them to.
To see the files being copied in the Terminal window, type -v after the command.
Download files from the internet
You’ll need the URL of the file you want to download in order to use Terminal for this.
cd ~/Downloads/
curl -O [URL of file you want to download]
If you want to download the file to a directory other than your Downloads folder, replace ~/Downloads/ with the path to that folder, or drag it onto the Terminal window after you type the cd command.
Change the default location for screenshots
If you don’t want macOS to save screenshots to your Desktop when you press Command-Shift-3, you can change the default location in Terminal
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location [path to folder where you want screenshots to be saved]
Hit Return
killall SystemUIServer
Hit Return
Change the default file type for screenshots
By default, macOS saves screenshots as .png files. To change that to .jpg, do this:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG
Press Return
killall SystemUIServer
Press Return
Delete all files in a folder
The command used to delete, or remove, files in Terminal is rm. So, for example, if you wanted to remove a file in your Documents folder named 'oldfile.rtf' you’d use cd ~/Documents to go to your Documents folder then to delete the file. As it stands, that will delete the file without further intervention from you. If you want to confirm the file to be deleted, use -i as in rm -i oldfile.rtf
To delete all the files and sub-folders in a directory named 'oldfolder', the command is rm -R oldfolder and to confirm each file should be deleted, rm -iR oldfolder
Just because you can use Terminal to delete files on your Mac, doesn’t mean you should. It’s a relatively blunt instrument, deleting only those files and folders you specify.
Another way to free up space
If your goal in removing files or folders is to free up space on your Mac, or to remove junk files that are causing your Mac to run slowly, it’s far better to use an app designed for the purpose. CleanMyMac X is one such app.
It will scan your Mac for files and recommend which ones you can delete safely, as well as telling you how much space you’ll save. And once you’ve decided which files to delete, you can get rid of them in a click. You can download CleanMyMac here.
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As you can see, while Terminal may look scary and seem like it’s difficult to use, it really isn’t. The key is learning a few commands, such as those we’ve outlined above, and getting to know the syntax for those commands.
However, you should be careful when using Terminal, it’s a powerful tool that has deep access to your Mac’s system files. Check commands by googling them if you’re not sure what they do. And if you need to delete files to save space, use an app like CleanMyMac X to do it. It’s much safer!
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Have you received an email with a ZIP file attachment, and you didn’t know what to do with it? Just like regular digital folders, you can easily open a ZIP file on almost any computer or operating system. But, unlike regular folders, you need more than just a simple double-click to use the files inside it. Here’s how to open a ZIP file on a Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, and Android devices.
What is a ZIP File?
A ZIP file is a type of file format that contains compressed filesand folders for the purpose of archiving, storage, and/or transmission. It istreated as one file when being transferred or transmitted from one digitalstorage space to another. These files have the file extension “.zip” atthe end of their name.
Most operating systems have built-in software that can create and open ZIP files. But there is also third-party software you can use, such as WinZip, 7zip, and WinRAR, that can also do the same.
How to Open a ZIP File on Windows 10
If you’re using a PC at home, you can easily open a ZIP file with thebuilt-in Windows Compressed Folder.To open a ZIP file using this Windows 10 feature, simply follow the stepsbelow:
- Locate the ZIP file you want to open. If you downloaded the ZIP file from the internet or as an email attachment, you might find it in the Downloads folder in your System Drive.
- Right-click on the ZIP file and select “Extract All…” Once you select “Extract All,” you will get a new pop-up menu.
- In the pop-up menu, select a location to extract the files. If you want your files to be extracted in another location, click “Browse” and select your destination in the pop-up window.
- Once you’ve selected a destination folder, click “OK.”
Note: Make sure to check “Show extracted files when complete” so you can immediately find the unzipped files after it is opened and extracted.
- Finally, click “Extract” in the pop-up menu. The built-in software will start extracting the files from inside the ZIP folder.
Once the extraction is complete, a window will pop-up, displayingall the extracted files from the ZIP file.
How to Open ZIP Files on Mac?
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If you have a Mac, you can still easily unzip orextract files from a ZIP file using Mac’s Archive Utility tool. Here’s how toopen a ZIP file using the Archive Utility tool in Mac:
- Locate the ZIP file you want to open. If you’re not sure where you stored the ZIP file after downloading it, check the Downloads folder.
- Double-click the ZIP file. This will automatically begin the file extraction, which may take a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the number and size of the files being extracted.
When the extraction is complete, a window will pop up to displaythe extracted files or folders. If no window opens up after the extraction iscomplete, simply locate the extracted folder to display the extractedfiles.
How to Open a ZIP File on Android Devices
For Android phones, you will needto download and install a zip file opener, such as the Filesapp from Google Play Store, to extract files from a ZIP file. The application comespre-installed on many Android phones. To check if you already have the app, tapthe Apps button, which looks like a square of four or nine dots on your homescreen.
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- Open the Files app. If you’re going through the initial setup, you may have to give the app access to photos, media, and files in your device. Click Allow to do this.
- Then click Browse at the bottom of your screen.
- Locate the ZIP file you want to extract. If you’ve downloaded it as an attachment from an email, you may find it in the “Download” folder.
- Tap the file you want to open and then tap Extract. This will open a list of the files in the ZIP folder.
- Finally, tap Done. You can access any of the files by tapping “All” at the top of your screen and then clicking the downward arrow next to the right of a file. Then tap “Open with” and choose an application.
How to Open Zip Files on an iPhone
Much like with Mac computers, iPhones and other Apple devices havea default feature that allows you to see your ZIP files. However, to actuallyextract workable files from a ZIP file on your mobile device, you need toinstall an archiving application such as iZip from the App Store. Much like the Files app for Android, iZip isa free application so no need to worry about fees or subscription costs.
- Download, install, and open the iZip app.
- Then tap Files at the top of your screen. This will only work after you have downloaded the ZIP file to your iPhone.
- Locate the ZIP file you want to extract files from. If you’ve downloaded the file from a website or an email, check for the ZIP file inside your Files app.
Note: If you do not see your ZIP file in Files, go back to the ZIP file and select the “send to” button. Then tap “More” and select “Copy to iZip.”
- Tap the ZIP file you want to extract. Then, tap and hold for a second or two to open a pop-up menu.
- Finally, tap OK in the pop-up. This will automatically unzip (or extract) all the files in the ZIP folder. Depending on the size, this may take a few seconds to a few minutes.
Once you have extracted all the filesand folders, you can view them through the iZip app. If you want to open a filewith a certain app, tap the “Open In” button at the bottom of your screen.
Now that you know how to open a ZIP file on Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android, check out our article on how to zip a file or create zip files.