Open Finder window from current Terminal location?

Question

If I am in a specific path in a Terminal window, how can I open that same window in a new Finder window?

Note: This is the opposite of opening a Terminal from Finder.

How is this done in Mavericks? – Wolfgang Fahl Nov 11 '13 at 05:18 — Wolfgang Fahl, Nov 11 '13 at 05:18
@WolfgangFahl the `open .` technique still works for me. – Jim McKeeth Nov 11 '13 at 21:26 — Jim McKeeth, Nov 11 '13 at 21:26

score 242 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 30 '11 at 22:09

242

Typing open . in Terminal will open the current working directory in a Finder window.

answered Jul 30 '11 at 22:09

Gauzy

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Thanks, that was exactly what I was looking for. I'd seen it before, but forgot it. – Jim McKeeth Jul 30 '11 at 22:14
Looks like this is broken in 10.9 Mavericks. Any workaround? – Wolfgang Fahl Nov 11 '13 at 05:19
@WolfgangFahl It still works for me in 10.9 Mavericks. – Jim McKeeth Nov 11 '13 at 21:25
@WolfgangFahl Was your Mavericks install a fresh install or an upgrade? My upgraded install of Mavericks lets me use this command. – Keen Feb 22 '14 at 03:15
of four Mavericks installs i did the problem only happend once for an upgrade install. All otheres were fine. The problem with the upgrade install also went away after a while. Strange ... – Wolfgang Fahl Feb 22 '14 at 16:30
Also working on Yosemite 10.10.5 here. – Henrique de Sousa Aug 28 '15 at 12:13
Works on macOS High Sierra – user1821961 Jul 06 '18 at 17:10
Related: You can switch to the existing Finder window using `open /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app` – Raine Revere Jul 18 '20 at 20:26

ptim · Answer 2 · 2021-03-25T11:36:26.270

Stretch goal!

To expand on the answer above (because the more appropriate related question is marked as a dupe and can't receive new answers)...

I've added a function to my ~/.bash_profile to handle revealing a file or directory:

# Reveal a file or directory in Finder
reveal() {
  # grab the first arg or default to pwd
  local basedir=${1:-${PWD}}

  if [[ -f "$basedir" ]]; then
    # ..we passed a file, so use its containing directory
    basedir=$(dirname "$basedir")
  fi
  # basedir is a directory in now, so open will activate Finder.
  # The argument is quoted to accommodate spaces in the filename.
  open "$basedir"
}

…one liner:

reveal() { local dir=${1:-${PWD}}; [[ -f "$dir" ]] && dir=$(dirname "$dir") || true; open "$dir"; }

To install the function:

paste/save it into ~/.bash_profile
source ~/.bash_profile or open a new terminal/tab

The context for my use is that I'll be browsing around using ls with tab completion, then when I find what I'm looking for, I can reveal (or cd or subl) the most recent arg, like:

ls dir/subdir<tab tab>
subsubdir  anotherdir
ls dir/subdir/anotherdir
reveal !$

Thanks to @nohillside, @Ed Randall, and Community for improvements!

worth noting that the only thing that this adds to `open .` is allowing us to pass a filename and get the containing directory :) — ptim, Oct 09 '15 at 02:29
Good plan, I simplified and enhanced this slightly: (1) named the function `finder`; (2) first line inside the function `local basedir=${1:-${PWD}}` (3) shortened the if/else to `if [[ -f ${basedir} ]] ; basedir=$(dirname ${basedir}) ; fi` — Ed Randall, Mar 11 '21 at 09:33
Tx @EdRandall! Maybe someone will come along and help me understand how to also allow piping to this function without waiting for input when stdin is empty ! cf https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/33049/how-to-check-if-a-pipe-is-empty-and-run-a-command-on-the-data-if-it-isnt — ptim, Mar 25 '21 at 11:03

Chad Grant · Answer 3 · 2016-10-29T21:02:55.413

6

open .

As a nice addition, add an alias in .bash_profile or .bash_aliases if you have one.

alias finder='open'

Then you can use finder . which I think is more intuitive.

edited Oct 29 '16 at 21:02

answered Oct 29 '16 at 19:59

Chad Grant

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@Allan I'm not sure you read my suggestion or understand what a bash alias is ... – Chad Grant Oct 29 '16 at 20:56
yeah, you're right, I swapped them around. fixed. – Chad Grant Oct 29 '16 at 21:02
Upvoted for the fix...plus it's a good idea. – Allan Oct 29 '16 at 21:10

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 01 '15 at 16:41

5

If you have autojump installed, you don't even have to type the full path to the directory. You can simply type jo partialdirectoryname, and autojump will open a new Finder window in the specified directory.

I love this method, because you don't have to remember the entire directory name. Autojump keeps a list of most commonly used locations, and automatically knows which directory you're referring to, even if you only give it part of the name.

answered Dec 01 '15 at 16:41

Trevor Sullivan

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I do have autojump installed but I get `jo command not found` – incandescentman Mar 21 '17 at 16:25

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 23 '16 at 02:59

3

Typing open . in Terminal will open the current working directory in a Finder window.
But there is also an alternative version

open `pwd`

answered Jun 23 '16 at 02:59

computingfreak

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12

Open Finder window from current Terminal location?

5 Answers5

Stretch goal!

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