How to install Homebrew on Mac

Before you start

You need an administrator account on your Mac and an internet connection. Xcode is not needed: if the Command Line Tools for Xcode are missing, the installer downloads them itself.

On Apple Silicon, Homebrew supports macOS 15 Sequoia and later. On macOS 11–14 it may work but is unsupported. Intel Macs get the lowest level of support.

Install Homebrew with one command

1. Open Terminal: Applications › Utilities › Terminal, or press Command-Space and type Terminal.
2. Copy the command below, paste it into Terminal and press Return.
3. Enter your Mac password when asked. Terminal shows nothing while you type it. Press Return.
4. The installer lists what it will do. Press Return to go on and wait: downloading the Command Line Tools can take a while.

This is the command from brew.sh, Homebrew’s official site.

Make Terminal find brew

On Apple Silicon, Homebrew lives in /opt/homebrew, where Terminal doesn’t look by default. The installer prints these lines under Next steps. Run them one by one:

On an Intel Mac, Homebrew goes to /usr/local, which Terminal already knows. Either way, check the install with:

Install and update apps

• brew install --cask <app> installs an app from its developer’s site, for example brew install --cask google-chrome. See also how to install Spotify and VS Code.
• brew search <name> finds the exact name of an app or tool.
• brew upgrade updates everything Homebrew installed, except apps that update themselves.
• brew cleanup deletes old versions and downloaded installers from Homebrew’s cache in ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew.

Alternatives to Homebrew

• MacPortsThe older package manager for macOS, builds from source.