How do I set environment variables on Mac zsh?

By default, we don’t have the .zshrc file present in macOS Catalina, and we need to create it. In order to create the .zshrc file, we can follow the steps shown below −

• Open Terminal

• Type touch ~/.zshrc to create the file.

• Hit Return

We can also open the .zshrc file in the terminal from any directory by just typing the command shown below

Example

vi ~/.zshrc

Output

immukul@192 linux-questions-code % cat ~/.zshrc
export GOPATH=/Users/immukul/go_projects
export NDHOME=/Users/immukul/Downloads
export GOTRACEBACK=all
export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
export LC_CTYPE=C
export PATH=/home/Systems
export LANG=C

It should be noted that the output may vary from machine to machine.

To add an entry to the PATH variable present inside the we can write the following command to the terminal, and we don’t even have to open the zshrc file to do that.

Command

echo -n 'export PATH=~/some/path:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc

Output

immukul@192 linux-questions-code % cat ~/.zshrc
export GOPATH=/Users/immukul/go_projects
export NDHOME=/Users/immukul/Downloads
export GOTRACEBACK=all
export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
export LC_CTYPE=C
export PATH=/home/Systems:/some/path
export LANG=C

Another approach is to open the zshrc file and then insert the export command manually.

Command

export PATH=/home/bin:$PATH

Output

immukul@192 linux-questions-code % cat ~/.zshrc
export GOPATH=/Users/immukul/go_projects
export NDHOME=/Users/immukul/Downloads
export GOTRACEBACK=all
export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
export LC_CTYPE=C
export PATH=/home/Systems:/some/path:/home/bin
export LANG=C

It is recommended to source the file once you are done to make the changes available to all the terminals.

Updated on 29-Jul-2021 11:06:32

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The operation is the same on both Bash and zsh, with the caveat that to persist them you need to use .bashrc and .zshrc, respectively.

If you edit a dot file, to apply the changes to the current shell use source .dotfile.

This works for Bash and Zsh.

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You must have noticed that as soon as you exit your Mac Terminal, the environment variable such as $PATH is not available. The $PATH was available until the Terminal session was active, but soon as it was terminated, we do not have access to the variable. In order to set the $PATH variable permanently, you would need to set it in the .zshrc file (Z-Shell resource file).

What is .zshrc file?

.zshrc is a Zsh shell resource file. This file runs whenever you start zsh shell. So all the commands and scripts you write in this file are executed as soon as you launch the terminal. So if you want to set paths and other variables that you need for day-to-day programming or executions, it's always better to add them to this file.

How to add $PATH in .zshrc file?

1. Open Terminal,
2. Make sure you are on Zsh Shell, if not type zsh and hit enter,
3. Now type nano ~/.zshrc
4. Now add your $PATH variable details: Example: export PATH="$PATH:/opt/homebrew/bin/"
5. Press Control + X, followed by Y to save the file, press enter to exit Nano,
6. Now type command source ~/.zshrc to apply changes.

Permanenlty set PATH variable in Mac Zsh Shell

Now even when you close your terminal and open it or switch between prompts, the Zsh shell will always have your $PATH variable set and it will not get lost.

Have Questions? Post them here!

Where is PATH variable stored in Mac zsh?

Does Mac Have environment variables?