Mac Terminal change directory to current front finder window

Question

Title says it all. I just want to know what command to enter to change the working directory to the directory of whatever is open in the front finder window.

Note that there are some alternatives available: 1. If you Command-Drag a file or folder into a terminal, it will send an entire `cd` command for you automatically, 2. You can start in Finder and use the contextual menu to open a terminal in the currently selected folder using the "New Terminal at Folder" Service (enable it in **System Preferences > Keyboard > Services**), 3. You can drag files and folders onto the Terminal application icon or into a terminal window tab bar to open a new terminal at that location. — Chris Page, Aug 27 '13 at 23:30

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

7

My answer is based off an answer to a similar question about how to get the path of the front-most window in Objective-C and Cocoa (which is apparently from a Mac OS X Hints tip which might have been your exact question). I've tested the command and it will work directory paths containing spaces too.

cd "`osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to POSIX path of (target of window 1 as alias)'`"

Using bash? Add this function to your bash profile.

cdf () {
  finderPath=`osascript -e 'tell application "Finder"
                               try
                                   set currentFolder to (folder of the front window as alias)
                               on error
                                   set currentFolder to (path to desktop folder as alias)
                               end try
                               POSIX path of currentFolder  
                            end tell'`;
  cd "$finderPath"
}

edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

Community

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1

answered Aug 27 '13 at 12:08

Linville

3,613
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Note that in the “inline” version “set myname to” is unnecessary, since you just want it to return the value—you aren’t using the variable. – Chris Page Aug 27 '13 at 23:31
Thanks for the tip! I've removed the superfluous variable. – Linville Aug 28 '13 at 02:42
If I try to use this in fish, it tells me: `fish: Unknown command 'insertion'`... Any suggestions? – rassoh Dec 18 '16 at 12:46
@rassoh, fish has slightly different syntax so you'll need to modify the statement. There is an [oh-my-fish](https://github.com/oh-my-fish/oh-my-fish) plugin that provides exactly this [exact capability](https://github.com/oh-my-fish/plugin-osx/blob/master/functions/pfd.fish). – Linville Dec 19 '16 at 15:17
@Linville wow, thanks a lot for the hint! – rassoh Dec 19 '16 at 20:02

David P. · Answer 2 · 2014-02-21T07:05:41.733

Using the Finder's insertion location property also works very well – this changes the working directory to the folder that is current active in the Finder (the last window or desktop space that was clicked):

cd "`osascript -e "tell application \\"Finder\\" to get POSIX path of (insertion location as text)"`"

or, add the following line to your bash profile (~/.bash_profile):

alias cdf='cd "`osascript -e "tell application \\"Finder\\" to get POSIX path of (insertion location as text)"`"'

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 17 '14 at 19:00

0

In Yosemite, I just drag the folder from Finder window on top of the Terminal icon on my dock and terminal opens to that folder. Neat isn't it? No script or service needed.

answered Nov 17 '14 at 19:00

Sachin Palewar

478
4
15

The question is so I can build a more complex script. GUI shortcuts don't help in that situation. Also, someone already mentioned that – Tomulent Nov 20 '14 at 16:31

Mac Terminal change directory to current front finder window

3 Answers3