I want to go to there

There’s 2 frequent entry points I use to go into the terminal - either from general file explorer (Finder) or from the file explorer in VS Code. In VS Code, there’s a context menu item that makes it a easier and in Finder I have a quick customization that saves me a bunch of time. If you ever use the terminal you may want to know about these 2 options:

From VS Code

I appreciate how the terminal is integrated with VS Code from the ability to quickly get it open with a common keystroke (ctrl+`) to the extensibility points. Its just pretty rare that I’m not working in VS Code and using the terminal for some very repeatable interaction (git, build, etc). Even more esoteric things, like duplicating a file in a different folder or managing multiple projects in a single VS Code workspace, lead me to the terminal. This is probably why I constantly point out the “Open in Integrated Terminal” context menu item in VS Code.

This could be a nested folder or just a long folder name you can’t remember the first couple letters of, but right-clicking on a folder in VS Code’s file explorer gives you an “open in integrated terminal” option towards the top. Selecting this gives you a new terminal where it starts from that location.

The VS Code menu item may not save as much time per use as the next option, but since I use it so much I wanted to mention it.

From Finder

There’s 2 things I usually want to do from a folder nested someone on my machine - that’s open it in a terminal or open it in an IDE (usually VS Code). Open in Terminal is an app for macOS that extends the Finder toolbar to simply do 1 or more actions. It’s not ideal that I have to install an app to do something somewhat fundamental for system navigation, but the general simplicity of the Finder interface is preferred over having an extra 10 options I don’t use just to get these 2 out of the box.

Because I lean towards the streamlined interface, I use OpenInTerminal-Lite with shortcuts for opening in the terminal and in VS Code placed in the toolbar. The apps that it opens, like which terminal (Terminal, iTerm2) or which editor (VS Code, IntelliJ, Cursor) are customizable by you with a quick command or during first launch setup. Check it out - all of it, since its open source - at https://github.com/Ji4n1ng/OpenInTerminal.

You can set it up to open whichever apps you prefer, just about. As long as the app supports the open command with the file/folder following, you’re likely to have success going beyond the impressive initial list of apps supported.

Not using the terminal much?

Even if you’re not at home in the terminal, the OpenInTerminal utility for Finder will help you out in opening the editor. The terminal isn’t the end-all-be-all of using your computer, but if you do development or IT administration, chances are that it can make you more effective over time. That said - the terminal is something you pretty much only learn with practice and then continued discovery. Better get in there.