How To Install and Use Homebrew on macOS

The command line interface is a non-graphical tool that allows users to interact with their computer by typing text-based commands. It is an essential tool for software developers, letting them automate many daily tasks. While the macOS command line offers much of the functionality found in other Unix systems, it does not ship with a native package manager. Homebrew is a popular free and open-source package manager for macOS that fills this gap, allowing you to install developer tools like Python, Ruby, and Node.js directly from your terminal.

In this tutorial, you will install and use Homebrew on your Mac. The guide will walk you through installing prerequisites like Xcode’s Command Line Tools and then running the Homebrew installation script. You will learn how to install, upgrade, and remove packages from the command line. Additionally, this article covers how to use Homebrew Cask to install desktop applications and provides the steps for uninstalling Homebrew if you no longer need it.

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS which lets you install free and open-source software using your terminal. You’ll use Homebrew to install developer tools like Python, Ruby, Node.js, and more.

In this tutorial you’ll install and use Homebrew on your Mac. You’ll install system tools and desktop applications from the command line interface.

You will need a macOS computer running Catalina or higher with administrative access and an internet connection. While older versions of macOS may work, they are not officially supported.

How to Install and Use Homebrew on a Mac

1. Open the macOS Terminal
2. Install Xcode’s Command Line Tools
3. Run the Homebrew install Command
4. Install, Upgrade and/or Remove Packages via Homebrew
5. Install MacOS Desktop Application
6. Uninstalling Homebrew

To access the command line interface on your Mac, you’ll use the Terminal application provided by macOS. Like any other application, you can find it by going into Finder, navigating to the Applications folder, and then into the Utilities folder. From here, double-click the Terminal application to open it up. Alternatively, you can use Spotlight by holding down the COMMAND key and pressing SPACE to find Terminal by typing it out in the box that appears.

To get more comfortable using the command line, take a look at [An Introduction to the Linux Terminal] (https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/an-introduction-to-the-linux-terminal). The command line interface on macOS is very similar, and the concepts in that tutorial are directly applicable.

Now that you have the Terminal running, let’s install some additional tools that Homebrew needs.

Xcode is an integrated development environment (IDE) that is comprised of software development tools for macOS. You won’t need Xcode to use Homebrew, but some of the software and components you’ll want to install will rely on Xcode’s Command Line Tools package.

Execute the following command in the Terminal to download and install these components:

xcode-select --install

You’ll be prompted to start the installation, and then prompted again to accept a software license. Then the tools will download and install automatically.

You can now install Homebrew.

To install Homebrew, you’ll download an installation script and then execute the script.

First, download the script to your local machine by typing the following command in your Terminal window:

curl -fsSL -o install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh

The command uses curl to download the Homebrew installation script from Homebrew’s Git repository on GitHub.

Let’s walk through the flags that are associated with the curl command:

• The -f or --fail flag tells the Terminal window to give no HTML document output on server errors.
• The -s or --silent flag mutes curl so that it does not show the progress meter, and combined with the -S or --show-error flag it will ensure that curl shows an error message if it fails.
• The -L or --location flag will tell curl to handle redirects. If the server reports that the requested page has moved to a different location, it’ll automatically execute the request again using the new location.
• The -o switch specifies a local filename for the file. Rather than displaying the contents to the screen, the -o switch saves the contents into the file you specify.

Before running a script you’ve download from the Internet, you should review its contents so you know what the script will do. Use the less command to review the installation script so you understand what it will do:

less install.sh

Once you’re comfortable with the contents of the script, execute the script with the bash command:

/bin/bash install.sh

The installation script will explain what it will do and will prompt you to confirm that you want to do it. This lets you know exactly what Homebrew is going to do to your system before you let it proceed. It also ensures you have the prerequisites in place before it continues.

You’ll be prompted to enter your password during the process. However, when you type your password, your keystrokes will not display in the Terminal window. This is a security measure and is something you’ll see often when prompted for passwords on the command line. Even though you don’t see them, your keystrokes are being recorded by the system, so press the RETURN key once you’ve entered your password.

Press the letter y for “yes” whenever you are prompted to confirm the installation.

Once the installation process is complete, you will want to put the directory Homebrew uses to store its executables at the front of the PATH environment variable. This ensures that Homebrew installations will be called over the tools that macOS includes.

The file you’ll modify depends on which shell you’re using. ZSH is the default shell on macOS Mojave and higher. The Bash shell is a popular shell that older versions of macOS used as the default, and if you’ve upgraded your OS, you may still be using Bash.

Execute the following command to determine your shell:

echo $0

You’ll see either bash or zsh.

If you’re using ZSH, you’ll open the file ~/.zshrc in your editor:

nano ~/.zshrc

If you’re using the Bash shell, you’ll use the file ~/.bash_profile:

nano ~/.bash_profile

Once the file opens up in the Terminal window, add the following lines to the end of the file:

# Add Homebrew's executable directory to the front of the PATH
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH

The first line is a comment that will help you remember what this does if you open this file in the future.

To save your changes, hold down the CTRL key and the letter O, and when prompted, press the RETURN key. Then exit the editor by holding the CTRL key and pressing X. This will return you to your Terminal prompt.

To activate these changes, close and reopen your Terminal app. Alternatively, use the source command to load the file you modified.

If you modified .zshrc, execute this command:

source ~/.zshrc

If you modified .bash_profile, execute this command:

source ~/.bash_profile

Once you have done this, the changes you have made to the PATH environment variable will take effect. They’ll be set correctly when you log in again in the future, as the configuration file for your shell is executed automatically when you open the Terminal app.

Now let’s verify that Homebrew is set up correctly. Execute this command:

brew doctor

If no updates are required at this time, you’ll see this in your Terminal:

Output
Your system is ready to brew.

Otherwise, you may get a warning to run another command such as brew update to ensure that your installation of Homebrew is up to date. Follow any on-screen instructions to fix your environment before moving on.

Now that Homebrew is installed, use it to download a package. The tree command lets you see a graphical directory tree and is available via Homebrew.

Install tree with the brew install command:

brew install tree

Homebrew will update its list of packages and then download and install the tree command:

Output
Updating Homebrew...

==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/tree-1.8.0.catalina.bottle.tar.gz
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Pouring tree-1.8.0.catalina.bottle.tar.gz
🍺  /usr/local/Cellar/tree/1.8.0: 8 files, 117.2KB

Homebrew installs files to /usr/local by default, so they won’t interfere with future macOS updates. Verify that tree is installed by displaying the command’s location with the which command:

which tree

The output shows that tree is located in /usr/local/bin:

Output
/usr/local/bin/tree

Run the tree command to see the version:

tree --version

The version prints to the screen, indicating it’s installed:

Output
tree v1.8.0 (c) 1996 - 2018 by Steve Baker, Thomas Moore, Francesc Rocher, Florian Sesser, Kyosuke Tokoro 

Occasionally, you’ll want to upgrade an existing package. Use the brew upgrade command, followed by the package name:

brew upgrade tree

You can run brew upgrade with no additional arguments to upgrade all programs and packages Homebrew manages.

When you install a new version, Homebrew keeps the older version around. After a while, you might want to reclaim disk space by removing these older copies. Run brew cleanup to remove all old versions of your Homebrew-managed software.

To remove a package you’re no longer using, use brew uninstall. To uninstall the tree command, execute this command:

brew uninstall tree

The output shows that the package was removed:

Output
Uninstalling /usr/local/Cellar/tree/1.8.0... (8 files, 117.2KB)

You can use Homebrew to install desktop applications too.

You’re not restricted to using Homebrew for command-line tools. Homebrew Cask lets you install desktop applications. This feature is included with Homebrew, so there’s nothing additional to install.

What is a Homebrew Cask?

While the standard Homebrew packages, known as formulae, typically handle command-line software, casks extend this capability to graphical user interface (GUI) applications. A cask is a script that automates the process of downloading a macOS application, such as its .dmg or .zip file, and moving it to your Applications folder. This gives you a way to manage both command-line tools and desktop apps using the same simple brew commands.

Searching for Casks

Before installing an application, you may want to check if it’s available as a cask. You can do this with the brew search command. For example, to find out if the Firefox browser is available, you would run:

brew search firefox

Homebrew will return a list of matching formulae and casks. Casks are usually clearly marked.

Output
==> Casks
firefox                                                    firefox-beta                                               firefox-developer-edition                                  firefox-esr                                                firefox-nightly

Installing a Cask Application

Let’s test it out by using Homebrew to install Visual Studio Code. Execute the following command in your terminal:

brew install visual-studio-code

The application will install:

Output
==> Downloading https://update.code.visualstudio.com/1.58.2/darwin/stable
==> Downloading from https://az764295.vo.msecnd.net/stable/c3f126316369cd610563c75b1b1725e0679adfb3/VSCode-darwin.zip
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Installing Cask visual-studio-code
==> Moving App 'Visual Studio Code.app' to '/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app'
==> Linking Binary 'code' to '/usr/local/bin/code'
🍺  visual-studio-code was successfully installed!

You’ll find the application in your Applications folder, just as if you’d installed it manually.

While the command above works, the current recommended syntax is to include the --cask flag for clarity. This helps distinguish between installing a formula and a cask, especially when they share similar names. The updated command would be:

brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Homebrew is smart enough to figure out your intent in most cases, but using the --cask flag is a good practice to adopt.

Managing Cask Applications

You can manage your cask installations with a few simple commands. To see a list of all the cask applications you’ve installed, run:

brew list --cask

To get more detailed information about a specific cask, such as its version and installation date, use the brew info --cask command:

brew info --cask visual-studio-code

Uninstalling a Cask Application

To remove it, use brew uninstall:

brew uninstall visual-studio-code

Homebrew will remove the installed software:

Output
==> Uninstalling Cask visual-studio-code
==> Backing App 'Visual Studio Code.app' up to '/usr/local/Caskroom/visual-studio-code/1.58.2/Visual Studio Code.app'
==> Removing App '/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app'
==> Unlinking Binary '/usr/local/bin/code'
==> Purging files for version 1.58.2 of Cask visual-studio-code

It performs a backup first in case the removal fails, but once the program is fully uninstalled, the backup is removed as well. For a more thorough removal that also deletes configuration files associated with the application, you can add the --zap flag:

brew uninstall --cask --zap visual-studio-code

Be careful with the --zap flag, as it will permanently delete all data associated with the application.

If you no longer need Homebrew, you can use its uninstall script.

Download the uninstall script with curl:

curl -fsSL -o uninstall.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/uninstall.sh

As always, review the contents of the script with the less command to verify the script’s contents:

less uninstall.sh

Once you’ve verified the script, execute the script with the --help flag to see the various options you can use:

bash uninstall.sh --help

The options display on the screen:

Output
Homebrew Uninstaller
Usage: uninstall.sh [options]
    -p, --path=PATH  Sets Homebrew prefix. Defaults to /usr/local.
        --skip-cache-and-logs
                     Skips removal of HOMEBREW_CACHE and HOMEBREW_LOGS.
    -f, --force      Uninstall without prompting.
    -q, --quiet      Suppress all output.
    -d, --dry-run    Simulate uninstall but don't remove anything.
    -h, --help       Display this message.

Use the -d flag to see what the script will do:

bash uninstall.sh -d

The script will list everything it will delete:

Output
Warning: This script would remove:
/Users/brianhogan/Library/Caches/Homebrew/
/Users/brianhogan/Library/Logs/Homebrew/
/usr/local/Caskroom/
/usr/local/Cellar/
/usr/local/bin/brew -> /usr/local/bin/brew
==> Removing Homebrew installation...
Would delete:
....

When you’re ready to remove everything, execute the script without any flags:

bash uninstall.sh

This removes Homebrew and any programs you’ve installed with it.

Many developer tools, such as databases or web servers, need to run continuously in the background. Homebrew provides a simple command, brew services, to manage these background processes directly from the command line. This utility integrates with launchd, the standard macOS service manager, to start, stop, and list your services.

Let’s see how this works with a practical example: installing and managing the PostgreSQL database.

First, install PostgreSQL using the standard brew install command:

brew install postgresql

Once the installation is complete, you can use brew services to start it.

brew services start postgresql

This command starts the PostgreSQL server immediately and configures it to launch automatically every time you log in.

Output
==> Successfully started `postgresql` (label: homebrew.mxcl.postgresql)

To see a list of all services that Homebrew is currently managing, use the list subcommand:

brew services list

The output shows the service name, its status, and the user it’s running as.

Output
Name        Status  User      File
postgresql  started your_user ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist

If you need to stop the service, you can use the stop subcommand:

brew services stop postgresql

This stops the service and prevents it from launching at login. The following table summarizes the most common brew services commands for quick reference.

Using brew services provides a consistent way to manage your development-related daemons without manually configuring launchd.

When setting up a new computer or onboarding a team member, ensuring a consistent development environment is important. A Brewfile is a plain text file that defines all your required Homebrew packages, including command-line formulae, desktop applications (casks), and even Mac App Store apps. This allows you to install all your dependencies with a single command.

Generating a Brewfile

You can create a Brewfile that captures every package currently installed on your system. This is a good way to back up your existing setup.

Navigate to a directory where you want to save the file, such as your home directory or a dotfiles repository, and run the bundle dump command:

brew bundle dump

This creates a file named Brewfile in your current directory. Its contents will look something like this:

# Taps
tap "homebrew/cask-fonts"
tap "homebrew/core"

# Formulae
brew "git"
brew "node"
brew "tree"

# Casks
cask "visual-studio-code"
cask "docker"

Installing from a Brewfile

When you move to a new machine, you can place this Brewfile in your home directory and run the bundle install command to set up your environment:

brew bundle install

Homebrew will read the Brewfile, install any missing packages, and skip any that are already installed. This makes the process repeatable and safe to run multiple times. This is also useful for project-specific dependencies. You can include a Brewfile in a project’s repository to ensure every developer has the required tools.

The default Homebrew installation includes a core set of formulae, but there are thousands of other packages available through third-party repositories. In Homebrew, these repositories are called taps. The brew tap command allows you to add (or “tap”) these external repositories, making their packages available for installation.

A popular example is the homebrew/cask-fonts tap, which contains a large collection of open-source fonts.

To add this tap, run the following command:

brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts

Once the tap is added, you can search for and install packages from it just like you would with core packages. For example, to install the Fira Code font, you would use:

brew install --cask fira-code

Homebrew automatically knows to look for fira-code in your tapped repositories. Taps greatly expand the universe of software that Homebrew can manage, giving you access to specialized tools and applications maintained by the community.

While brew doctor is the primary command for diagnosing issues with your Homebrew installation, a few other commands can provide deeper information.

• brew config: This command displays a summary of your system’s configuration as Homebrew sees it. This information is very useful when you are filing a bug report, as it provides maintainers with the context they need.

• brew deps --tree <formula>: This command shows you the dependency tree for a specific package. It helps you understand why certain packages were installed and how they relate to each other. For example, running brew deps --tree wget shows all the libraries wget depends on:

  brew deps --tree wget
  

  Output
  wget
  ├── gettext
  ├── libunistring
  ├── libidn2
  │   ├── libunistring
  │   └── gettext
  └── openssl@3
      └── ca-certificates
  

These commands give you greater visibility into your Homebrew environment, making it easier to manage dependencies and resolve problems.

Homebrew is generally reliable, but you might encounter issues from time to time. Most problems are easy to fix. This section covers common mistakes and the steps to resolve them.

A good first step for any issue is to run Homebrew’s built-in diagnostic tool:

brew doctor

This command checks your system for potential problems and often provides the exact commands needed to fix them. If brew doctor reports Your system is ready to brew, but you still have problems, check out the following common issues.

Mistake 1: Having an Outdated Homebrew Version

Many installation errors for formulae or casks happen because your local copy of Homebrew is out of date. You might see errors like Error: Cask 'some-cask' is unreadable or fetching failures. Before assuming a package is broken, get the latest version of Homebrew and update the core formulae:

brew update

It’s also good practice to upgrade your installed packages to their latest versions:

brew upgrade

Running these two commands regularly can prevent many common problems.

Mistake 2: “Command Not Found” After Installation

Sometimes, after installing a tool, your shell reports command not found when you try to use it. This is almost always a PATH configuration issue. The PATH is an environment variable that tells your shell where to look for executable programs.

1. Verify Homebrew’s Prefix

First, find where Homebrew is installed.

brew --prefix

• On Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) Macs, the output will be /opt/homebrew.
• On Intel-based Macs, the output will be /usr/local.

The executables you install will be in the bin subdirectory of this path (e.g., /opt/homebrew/bin).

2. Check Your Current PATH

Display your current PATH to see if the correct Homebrew directory is included.

echo $PATH

Look for /opt/homebrew/bin (Apple Silicon) or /usr/local/bin (Intel) in the output. It should be near the beginning of the PATH string.

3. Fix Your PATH

If the path is missing, you need to add it to your shell’s configuration file. For Zsh, which is the default shell on modern macOS, this file is ~/.zshrc.

Open the file in a text editor like nano:

nano ~/.zshrc

Add the correct line for your system at the end of the file.

For Apple Silicon:

# ~/.zshrc

export PATH="/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH"

For Intel:

# ~/.zshrc

export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

Save the file (CTRL+O, Enter) and exit nano (CTRL+X). Then, apply the changes to your current terminal session:

source ~/.zshrc

The command you installed should now work correctly.

Troubleshooting Installation Failures

Sometimes, brew install fails midway through the process. Here are two common causes.

Missing Xcode Command Line Tools

If a formula needs to be compiled from source, it requires Apple’s Command Line Tools. If they are missing, you will see an error related to xcrun or a missing compiler.

To fix this, install the tools with this command:

xcode-select --install

A dialog box will appear. Follow the prompts to complete the installation, and then try your brew install command again.

Permission Errors

On older Intel-based Macs, you might see permission errors related to the /usr/local/ directory. This happens when the current user does not have write permissions for Homebrew’s directories.

An example error might look like this: Error: /usr/local/Cellar is not writable.

You can fix this by changing the ownership of the Homebrew directory to your current user.

sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/*

This issue is uncommon on Apple Silicon Macs because Homebrew installs into /opt/homebrew/, a directory that the installer configures with the correct permissions from the start.

AI-Powered Troubleshooting

When a Homebrew installation fails or brew doctor reports a warning, the resulting error messages can be difficult to understand. Instead of searching through forums for a solution, you can use an AI language model to diagnose the problem and get a direct solution.

For instance, imagine you run brew install libvips and receive the following error:

Output
==> Installing dependencies for libvips: glib
==> Installing libvips dependency: glib
==> ./configure --disable-silent-rules --prefix=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/glib/2.80.0 --with-pcre=system
==> make
Last 15 lines from /Users/sammy/Library/Logs/Homebrew/glib/02.make:
  GEN      glib-gettextize
glib-gettextize.c:23:10: fatal error: 'libintl.h' file not found
#include <libintl.h>
         ^~~~~~~~~~~
1 error generated.
make[3]: *** [glib-gettextize] Error 1
make[2]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make: *** [all] Error 2

Do not report this issue to Homebrew/brew or Homebrew/core!

This error can be frustrating. However, you can copy this entire output and paste it into an AI assistant with a simple prompt.

Example Prompt:

> I got the error below while trying to install a package with Homebrew. Can you explain what went wrong and give me the steps to fix it?

> [Paste the full error log here]

An AI assistant can analyze the log, identify the root cause—in this case, the missing libintl.h file points to a dependency on gettext—and provide a clear, step-by-step solution.

Example AI Response:

The error fatal error: 'libintl.h' file not found indicates that a required dependency, gettext, is not properly linked in your system. Homebrew usually handles this, but sometimes it needs to be done manually.

Here’s how to fix it:

1. Install or relink gettext: First, ensure gettext is installed and up to date.

   brew install gettext
   

2. Force the link: Next, force-link the formula to make its libraries available to other packages.

   brew link --force gettext
   

3. Retry the installation: Once the link is created, try installing your original package again.

   brew install libvips
   

This approach transforms a potential roadblock into a quick fix and a chance to understand how package dependencies work.

Generating a Brewfile with Natural Language

A Brewfile is a text file that lists all the Homebrew packages you want to install. It’s an efficient way to set up a new computer or ensure all members of a development team have the same tools. Instead of creating this file manually, you can describe your needs in plain English to an AI assistant and have it generate the file for you.

Example Prompt:

I'm a Python web developer setting up a new MacBook. I use VS Code, iTerm2, and PostgreSQL. I also need tools like git, nvm for Node.js management, and Docker. Generate a complete Brewfile for me.

The AI can process this request and produce a perfectly formatted Brewfile.

Example AI Response:

Certainly. Here is a Brewfile based on your requirements. Save it as Brewfile in your home directory.

# Brewfile for a Python Web Developer

# Taps

tap "homebrew/bundle"

# Command-line tools (Formulae)

brew "git"
brew "nvm"
brew "python"
brew "postgresql"

# Desktop Apps (Casks)

cask "visual-studio-code"
cask "iterm2"
cask "docker"

After saving the file, navigate to its directory in your terminal and run brew bundle install. Homebrew will automatically install every package listed.

This method is fast, accurate, and ensures you don’t forget any essential tools during setup.

Discovering New Tools with AI

Sometimes you have a problem to solve but don’t know which command-line tool is right for the job. An AI assistant can act as a discovery engine, recommending the best Homebrew packages for your specific task.

Example Prompt:

I need a command-line tool for my Mac that can convert HEIC images to JPEG in bulk. What can I install with Homebrew?

The AI can suggest a suitable tool and even provide the commands to install and use it.

Example AI Response:

The best tool for this is ImageMagick, a powerful command-line image processing suite.

1. Install ImageMagick: You can install it with Homebrew by running:

   brew install imagemagick
   

2. Convert your images: Navigate to the folder containing your .HEIC files and run the following command to convert all of them to JPEG format:

   magick mogrify -format jpg *.HEIC
   

This command will create a JPEG version of each HEIC file in the same directory.

This interaction saves you from having to search for tools and read through documentation, allowing you to solve your problem in minutes.

Automating Scripts

You can use AI to write shell scripts that automate your Homebrew workflows. This is useful for creating custom maintenance routines or checks that go beyond standard brew commands. For example, you might want to be notified only when a critical package has a security update pending.

Example Prompt:

> Write a shell script that checks for outdated Homebrew packages. If the `openssl` package is in the list of outdated packages, it should print a warning message. Otherwise, it should remain silent.

An AI can generate a functional script based on this request.

Example AI Response:

Here is a shell script that checks for an openssl update. You can save it as check_updates.sh and run it periodically.

#!/bin/bash

# Fetches the latest package information from Homebrew

echo "Checking for updates..."
brew update > /dev/null 2>&1

# Get a list of all outdated Homebrew packages

OUTDATED_PACKAGES=$(brew outdated)

# Check if 'openssl' is in the list of outdated packages

if echo "$OUTDATED_PACKAGES" | grep -q "openssl"; then
  echo "⚠️  Warning: A critical update for openssl is available. Run 'brew upgrade openssl' as soon as possible."
else
  echo "All critical packages are up to date."
fi

To make the script executable, run chmod +x check_updates.sh. You can then run it anytime with ./check_updates.sh.

By generating custom scripts, you can create automated, personalized workflows that fit your exact needs.

1. What is Homebrew on macOS?

Homebrew is a free and open-source package manager for macOS that allows you to install software through the command line. A package manager is a set of tools that automates the installation, configuration, and upgrading of software. You can use Homebrew to install developer tools such as Python, Ruby, and Node.js.

2. How do I install Homebrew on Mac?

Installing Homebrew involves a few steps from the macOS Terminal.

1. Install Xcode Command Line Tools: Before installing Homebrew, your system needs Xcode’s Command Line Tools. You can install them by running: xcode-select --install.
2. Download the Installation Script: Use the curl command to download the official installation script from Homebrew’s repository: curl -fsSL -o install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh.
3. Run the Script: Execute the downloaded script in your terminal using bash: /bin/bash install.sh. You will be prompted to enter your password to proceed.
4. Configure Your PATH: After installation, you must add Homebrew’s executable directory to your shell’s PATH. Add export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH to your ~/.zshrc (for Zsh) or ~/.bash_profile (for Bash) file.
5. Verify the Installation: Run brew doctor to ensure Homebrew is set up correctly. If the output is Your system is ready to brew, the installation was successful.

3. How do I use Homebrew to install apps?

You can use the brew install command to install both command-line tools and desktop applications.

• For command-line tools: To install a package like the tree command, you would run brew install tree.
• For desktop applications: To install a graphical application like Visual Studio Code, you use the same command: brew install visual-studio-code. The application will be placed in your computer’s Applications folder.

4. What is the difference between Homebrew and Homebrew Cask?

Homebrew is used to install command-line software, while Homebrew Cask is a feature within Homebrew used to install graphical desktop applications. Cask is included with the main Homebrew installation, so you don’t need to install anything extra to use it.

5. How do I find packages to install with Homebrew?

You can find available packages using the brew search command followed by the name of the software you’re looking for. Homebrew will search its list of both command-line tools (formulae) and desktop applications (casks). For example, to search for the wget utility, you would run:

brew search wget

This command will return a list of packages that match your search term.

6. How do I uninstall a package with Homebrew?

To remove a package, you use the brew uninstall command followed by the package name. This works for both command-line tools and desktop applications.

• To uninstall a command-line tool: brew uninstall tree
• To uninstall a desktop application: brew uninstall visual-studio-code

Homebrew will remove the program and its related files from your system.

7. How do I uninstall Homebrew on macOS?

To uninstall Homebrew, you must first download the official uninstall script.

1. Download the script: Use curl to fetch the script: curl -fsSL -o uninstall.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/uninstall.sh.
2. Run the script: Execute the script in your terminal by running bash uninstall.sh.

This command will remove Homebrew and all the software you installed with it from your system.

You have now successfully installed and configured Homebrew, allowing you to manage both command-line tools and graphical desktop applications directly from your terminal. With this powerful package manager, you can streamline your development workflow by managing background services with brew services and creating reproducible environments using a Brewfile. You can also expand the available software by adding third-party repositories with brew tap. You are now equipped to diagnose and resolve common issues with brew doctor, giving you full control over your development environment. Go ahead and explore the thousands of packages now available to you with a single command.

Homebrew has many packages you can install. Visit Homebrew Formulae to search for your favorite programs.

To continue setting up your development tools, you can follow our guides for installing a specific programming language like Ruby on macOS or for setting up a package manager on a Linux server:

• How To Install Ruby and Set Up a Local Programming Environment on macOS
• How To Install and Use LinuxBrew on a Linux VPS