zsh

How Do I Manually Update Zsh on Mac?

Zsh is a popular command-line shell that allows you to enhance your terminal experience. It is a beloved choice for many people out there since it provides several customization options and improved user experience over the default shells on Mac. Having the latest version of Zsh installed on your Mac system is crucial since it ensures you have access to the most recent features, enhancements, and bug fixes. If you manage to install the newer version of Zsh, you will get the latest security patches and additional functionalities that will help you enhance your productivity and efficiency in the command-line environment.

Follow this guide to learn how you can manually update Zsh on your Mac system.

How Do I Manually Update Zsh?

To manually update Zsh on your Mac system, follow the below-given steps:

Step 1: Check the Current Zsh Version
First, check the current Zsh version installed on your Mac system and this can be done from the following command:

zsh --version

Step 2: Install Homebrew on Zsh
You can easily update Zsh on your Mac system by installing the Homebrew package manager from here.

Step 3: Check Zsh Version on Homebrew
To check the latest Zsh version on Homebrew, you can use the following command:

brew info zsh

Note that Zsh 5.9 is the latest version at the time of writing this article.

Step 4: Install Zsh Latest Version from Homebrew
Now, you can use the following command to install Zsh’s latest version manually.

brew install zsh

After the completion of the above step, the Zsh will be updated to the latest version, which you can verify by running the following command again:

zsh --version

Note: You can close and reopen the terminal again if you see the old version after running the above command.

Conclusion

Zsh is a powerful command-line interpreter widely used by macOS users worldwide. Updating the Zsh is crucial as it allows you to use the advanced features and customization options. You can manually update Zsh on your Mac system by installing the Homebrew package manager and then using the “brew install zsh” command to manually update the Zsh to the latest version.

About the author

Awais Khan

I'm an Engineer and an academic researcher by profession. My interest for Raspberry Pi, embedded systems and blogging has brought me here to share my knowledge with others.