# Hi. Trying to add Julia to the PATH on my Mac Book Pro.

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369>\
**Category:** New to Julia\
**Created:** [May 19, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369 "2019-05-19T01:49:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![paulgureghian](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/paulgureghian/32/4115_2.png) [@paulgureghian](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/paulgureghian)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/1 "2019-05-19T01:49:56Z")

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![Capture3](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/1/4/14dc0d76743058c39bf88f02ccf6bdfde08a457a.png)

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![vchuravy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/vchuravy/32/8_2.png) [@vchuravy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/vchuravy)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/2 "2019-05-19T01:51:26Z")

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What are you expecting? Does `julia` not work after a restart of the terminal?  
What is `ls $PATH/TO/JULIA`?

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**Author:** ![paulgureghian](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/paulgureghian/32/4115_2.png) [@paulgureghian](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/paulgureghian)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/3 "2019-05-19T16:33:50Z")

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Actually this PATH worked, just had to start a new terminal tab.

My goal was to be able to access the Julia interpreter from anywhere and not just have to launch the program directly only.

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**Author:** ![kevbonham](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/kevbonham/32/216165_2.png) [@kevbonham](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/kevbonham)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/4 "2019-05-19T20:08:37Z")

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Hi Paul, glad you figured it out! If (when) you have a questions in the future, please take a few minutes to read [this post](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/psa-make-it-easier-to-help-you/14757) to make it easier for folks. In particular, copying and pasting the text rather than providing a screenshot is typically preferred.

Happy coding!

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**Author:** ![StevenSiew](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevensiew/32/218393_2.png) [@StevenSiew](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StevenSiew)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/5 "2019-05-19T21:17:02Z")

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On a mac this is the easiest way

from [Introducing Julia/Getting started - Wikibooks, open books for an open world](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introducing_Julia/Getting_started)

A different approach is to create a link to the executable and put it into the `/usr/local/bin` directory (which should already be in your path), so that typing `julia` is the exact equivalent of typing `/Applications/Julia/.../julia` . This command does that:

ln -fs “/Applications/Julia-1.0.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia” /usr/local/bin/julia

replace “Julia-1.0” with the version of Julia you wish to run

COPIED FROM AN OLDER POST BELOW

Probably the easiest way is to issue a similar command like the one below in the MacOS terminal

```julia
ln -fs "/Applications/Julia-1.0.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia" /usr/local/bin/julia

```

Remember I said SIMILAR, you need to double check the location of julia first in the /Application folder

This is what I have on my Mac

```julia
$ which julia
/usr/local/bin/julia
$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/julia*
lrwxr-xr-x 1 ssiew admin 62 22 Sep 2018 /usr/local/bin/julia -> /Applications/Julia-1.0.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia
lrwxr-xr-x 1 ssiew admin 62 22 Sep 2018 /usr/local/bin/julia06 -> /Applications/Julia-0.6.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia
lrwxr-xr-x 1 ssiew admin 62 22 Sep 2018 /usr/local/bin/julia07 -> /Applications/Julia-0.7.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia
$ 

```

postscript: I have not installed Julia 1.1 on my system so I have no clue where the binary for julia is located on the /Application folder for version 1.1 perhaps someone who has installed it can let you know the exact location.

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**Author:** ![paulgureghian](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/paulgureghian/32/4115_2.png) [@paulgureghian](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/paulgureghian)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/6 "2019-05-19T21:47:46Z")

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What "ln -fs stand for / do ?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aharoun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/aharoun/32/6887_2.png) [@aharoun](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/aharoun)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/7 "2019-05-19T23:26:00Z")

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> [@StevenSiew](#):
>
> What "ln -fs stand for / do ?

> **[ln (Unix)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ln_(Unix))**
>
> ln is a shell command for creating a link file to an existing file or directory. By default, the command creates a hard link, but with the -s command line option, it creates a symbolic link. Most systems disallow a hard link to a directory since such links could disrupt the structure of a file system and interfere with the operation of other utilities. The command can create a symbolic link to non-existent file.
> The command appeared in Issue 2 of the X/Open Portability Guidelines. The version in...

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![StevenSiew](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevensiew/32/218393_2.png) [@StevenSiew](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StevenSiew)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/hi-trying-to-add-julia-to-the-path-on-my-mac-book-pro/24369/8 "2019-05-20T00:17:48Z")

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```julia
LN(1) BSD General Commands Manual LN(1)

NAME
     link, ln -- make links

SYNOPSIS
     ln [-Ffhinsv] source_file [target_file]
     ln [-Ffhinsv] source_file ... target_dir
     link source_file target_file

DESCRIPTION
     The ln utility creates a new directory entry (linked file) which has the
     same modes as the original file. It is useful for maintaining multiple
     copies of a file in many places at once without using up storage for the
     ``copies''; instead, a link ``points'' to the original copy. There are
     two types of links; hard links and symbolic links. How a link ``points''
     to a file is one of the differences between a hard and symbolic link.

     The options are as follows:

     -f If the target file already exists, then unlink it so that the link
           may occur. (The -f option overrides any previous -i options.)

     -s Create a symbolic link.

```

This is what I currently have on my Mac machine

```julia
$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/ju*
lrwxr-xr-x 1 ssiew admin 62 13 Apr 09:07 /usr/local/bin/julia -> /Applications/Julia-1.1.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia
lrwxr-xr-x 1 ssiew admin 62 22 Sep 2018 /usr/local/bin/julia06 -> /Applications/Julia-0.6.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia
lrwxr-xr-x 1 ssiew admin 62 22 Sep 2018 /usr/local/bin/julia07 -> /Applications/Julia-0.7.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia
lrwxr-xr-x 1 ssiew admin 62 22 Sep 2018 /usr/local/bin/julia10 -> /Applications/Julia-1.0.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia

```