How to Add a Binary Folder to the PATH environment variable on MacOS

To add a folder of a binary file to the PATH environment variable on macOS, follow these steps:

Open your Terminal

Personally, I use macOS native terminal. But some developers prefer Hyper or CommanderOne

Edit the Bash or Zsh Profile

If you are using bash, you will edit the ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc file. If you are using zsh (the default shell on macOS since Catalina), edit the ~/.zshrc file. Use a text editor to open the file. For example, with vim, you can use:

vim ~/.zshrc

Add the Directory to PATH: Add the following line to the end of the file, replacing /path/to/directory with the actual path of the directory you want to add:

export PATH="$PATH:/Users/your-username-here/bin"

Save and Exit the Editor

In vim, press :wq to save and CTRL + X to exit. Apply the Changes – Reload the shell configuration by running:

source ~/.zshrc

(Replace ~/.zshrc with ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc if you’re using bash)

This will update your PATH variable with the new directory, allowing you to run executables located there directly from the terminal.