How to Set Zsh as the Default Shell in Your Terminal?

Setting up the default shell in your terminal is essential for users who want to customize their command-line experience. If you are a macOS user, you should have heard about Zsh, which is a powerful and interactive command-line shell that provides much better and improved functionality compared to the default bash shell.

Read this guide to find the process of setting up Zsh as your default shell on Mac.

Why Choose Zsh as Your Default Shell?

Choosing Zsh as your default shell is a better choice due to several reasons, which are given below:

1: Enhanced Functionality

The Zsh includes several advanced features such as spelling corrections, improved auto-completion, and command history. Keeping these features in mind, Zsh shell is an effective and easy-to-use command-line shell for Mac users.

2: Customization Options

You will also find several customization options in Zsh inside its configuration file called as zshrc. This configuration file will help you in creating aliases, define functions, and personalize the shell that best fits your needs.

3: Community Support

Zsh has an active community that helps users in finding plenty of plugins, themes, and helpful resources to enhance their experience and productivity.

How to Set Zsh as the Default Shell in Your Terminal?

To set Zsh as the default shell in your terminal, follow the below-given steps:

Step 1: First, make sure Zsh is installed on your system and you can confirm it using the following command:

Step 2: You can easily install Zsh from Homebrew using the following command:

Step 3: To configure Zsh as your default shell, you must run the following command:

Once you execute the above command, it will ask you to enter your password and once it’s done, Zsh will be set as the default shell on Mac.

Step 4: You can close and reopen your terminal again to apply the changes or you can use the following command to reload the configuration.

Step 5: To ensure Zsh is set as a default shell on your Mac system, you can run the following command:

Conclusion

Setting up Zsh as the default shell in your terminal is straightforward and can be done quickly using the command “chsh -s $(which zsh)”. You can confirm the changes by executing the command “echo $SHELL”. The above guide will help developers, system administrators, or casual users in switching to Zsh to enhance their productivity and streamline the workflow.