How to install iTerm2 Mac Terminal Alternative

iTerm2 is an alternative or can be called a replacement of the Terminal App on macOS. iTerm2 brings in more features to the Command Line that are not available in the Terminal.

System Requirements

You should be on macOS 10.14 or later

How to install iTerm2

1. Open Terminal,
2. Type command: brew install --cask iterm2 (make sure homebrew is installed)
3. iTerm will get installed under /Applications
4. Open iTerm using Spotlight Search or Terminal open command.

Few features of iTerm2

1. Split Panes

Though macOS Terminal does allow to have multiple tabs within the Terminal Window, it does not let you split the panes to work more efficiently, this is one of the much-craved features that iTerm2 adds. You can divide a tab into multiple panes with each having a separate session.

The panes can be sliced both vertically and horizontally and there is no limit to the number of divisions you can have at a time.

2. Autocomplete

Just like IDE's you have autocomplete with iTerm2, as you start typing, the suggestions will appear, and press Command + ; to get the suggestions window.

3. Paste History

You can revisit recently copied or pasted text.

4. Search

iTerm2 has a find-on-page feature, as you search the matches are highlighted. You can even make use of regular expressions.

5. Multi-Lingual

There is internationalization support, including support for Unicode combining marks, full-width characters, Emoji, and many other Unicode features.

See the complete list: https://iterm2.com/features.html

Keyboard Shortcuts

Split Horizontally:Option ⌥  + Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + H
Split Vertically:Option ⌥  + Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + V


Cycle Tabs Forward: Tab + Right Arrow
Cycle Tabs Backward: Tab + Left Arrow
Scroll One Line Up: Command ⌘ + Up Arrow
Scroll One Line Down: Command ⌘  + Down Arrow
Previous Tab: Command ⌘  + Left Arrow
Move Tab Left: Shift + Command ⌘   + Left Arrow
Next Tab: Command ⌘ + Right Arrow
Move Tab Right: Shift + Command ⌘  + Right Arrow
Scroll To Top: Command ⌘ + Home 
Scroll To End: Command ⌘ + End
Scroll One Page Up: Command + Page Up
Scroll One Page Down: Command ⌘ + Page Down