Terminal on macOS — VS Code and system terminals

Exact keyboard shortcuts and menu paths to open an integrated terminal in VS Code and the built-in Terminal app

Start Here — VS Code’s integrated terminal (what you’ll use most)

  1. Keyboard shortcuts (recommended):
    • Toggle terminal (show/hide): Control + ` (backtick) — symbol: ⌃`
    • New terminal instance: Control + Shift + ` — symbol: ⌃⇧`
    • Command Palette: Shift + Command + P (⇧⌘P) → run View: Toggle Terminal
  2. Menu paths:
    • Terminal → New Terminal
    • View → Terminal
    • Explorer (right-click folder) → Open in Integrated Terminal

  3. Why VS Code’s terminal first? It opens at your workspace root, integrates with the editor (links, error navigation), and provides a single place to run the Gradle wrapper (Gradle 9.2.0 via the project wrapper) and Git commands while you edit.

  4. If a shortcut doesn’t work:
    • You can open the terminal from the menu (Terminal → New Terminal).
    • Or open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P) and type Toggle Terminal.

Quick verification

  1. Open the integrated terminal (one of the shortcuts above).
  2. Type and run:
echo hello

You should see hello printed back. If you do, your terminal is ready.

Common macOS pitfalls (brief)

  • VS Code launched from the Dock may not inherit your shell’s PATH. If java works in Terminal.app but not in VS Code, restart VS Code from a shell with code . or put PATH/JAVA_HOME exports in ~/.zprofile.
  • If ./gradlew is “Permission denied”, run chmod +x gradlew in the project root.

More macOS-specific troubleshooting, examples, and commands are available on the dedicated macOS research note linked below.

Mac research notes and troubleshooting