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6. Installing Git on Mac

Installing Git on Mac

There are several ways to install Git on macOS. We'll cover the most common methods.

Method 1: Xcode Command Line Tools (Recommended)

The easiest way to install Git on Mac:

bash
1# Open Terminal and run:
2xcode-select --install

A dialog will appear asking you to install the command line developer tools. Click Install and wait for it to complete.

Verify Installation

bash
1git --version
2# Output: git version 2.39.0 (or similar)

Method 2: Homebrew

If you have Homebrew installed, you can install Git with:

bash
1# Install Homebrew first (if not installed)
2/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
3
4# Install Git
5brew install git

Verify Installation

bash
1git --version

Method 3: Download from Git Website

  1. Go to git-scm.com/download/mac
  2. Download the installer
  3. Run the installer and follow the prompts

Configure Git

After installation, configure your identity:

bash
1# Set your name
2git config --global user.name "Your Name"
3
4# Set your email (use the same email as your GitHub account)
5git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

Verify Configuration

bash
1git config --list
2# Output:
3# user.name=Your Name
4# user.email=your.email@example.com

Optional: Set Default Editor

Set your preferred text editor for Git:

bash
1# For VS Code
2git config --global core.editor "code --wait"
3
4# For Vim
5git config --global core.editor "vim"
6
7# For Nano
8git config --global core.editor "nano"

Optional: Set Default Branch Name

Modern convention is to use main instead of master:

bash
1git config --global init.defaultBranch main

Verify Everything Works

Create a test repository to verify Git is working:

bash
1# Create a test directory
2mkdir git-test
3cd git-test
4
5# Initialize a Git repository
6git init
7# Output: Initialized empty Git repository in /path/to/git-test/.git/
8
9# Create a test file
10echo "Hello Git" > test.txt
11
12# Stage and commit
13git add test.txt
14git commit -m "Initial commit"
15# Output: [main (root-commit) abc1234] Initial commit
16
17# Clean up
18cd ..
19rm -rf git-test

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

If git command is not found:

bash
1# Check if it's in /usr/local/bin
2ls /usr/local/bin/git
3
4# Add to PATH if needed
5export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

Permission Denied

If you get permission errors:

bash
1# Check permissions
2ls -la $(which git)
3
4# Reinstall with Homebrew
5brew reinstall git

Summary

You've successfully installed Git on your Mac! Key takeaways:

  1. Xcode CLI is the easiest method
  2. Homebrew keeps Git updated easily
  3. Configure your name and email
  4. Test with a sample repository

Next, let's learn how to install Git on Windows!