As a Mac user, you might wonder how to run different programs on your computer. The process can be simple once you understand the basics. In this blog post, we will guide you through the necessary steps to running your programs effortlessly on a Mac.
Running Installed Programs
To run an application that’s already installed on your Mac, you can use the Dock or Launchpad. The Dock is the bar at the bottom of your screen, and the Launchpad is a quick app launcher.
To open a program from the Dock, just click on its icon. If the app isn’t in your Dock, you can find it through the Launchpad icon (the silver rocket ship in the Dock). Once Launchpad is open, click on the desired app’s icon to run it.
Running Downloaded Programs
For all downloaded apps, whether from the internet or the App Store, you have to go through an installation process first. Here’s how to do that:
- Locate the downloaded file, which usually goes to the Downloads folder.
- Click on the file to open it. Most files will contain a .app file that you need to drag into the Applications folder. Some apps will have an installer that you need to run.
- Once the app is in the Applications folder or after you’ve run the installer, you can open the app through Launchpad or by searching for it in Spotlight (use the magnifying glass in the top-right corner of your screen).
Running Terminal Commands
Sometimes, you might need to run programs from Terminal, especially developer tools. Here’s a basic guide on how to do that:
The first thing you need to do is to open Terminal. You can find it in Applications > Utilities or search for it in Spotlight.
Once Terminal is open, you can run programs by typing their paths. Here is an example of how to do it:
cd /path/to/your/program ./program_name
In the above example, replace /path/to/your/program with the actual path to your program and program_name with the name of your program.
That’s it! Now you know how to run your programs on a Mac. As you can see, it’s not as complicated as you might have thought. Happy computing!
