How to Install Homebrew on a Mac

Step 1: Install Xcode

Xcode is an essential tool for any developer. It’s the only way to develop iOS apps and other Apple operating system programs, with many features that help in the engineering process-stages like coding or designing user interfaces.

From a Mac terminal, run the command below to install Xcode:

xcode-select --install

Step 2: Install Homebrew on a Mac

Download the Homebrew installer shell script:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh

Run the shell script to install Homebrew:

bash install.sh

It will take less than 10 minutes to install Homebrew.

Step 3: Turn Off Analytics

By default, Homebrew gathers anonymous aggregate user behavior analytics using Google Analytics. If you want to opt-out without ever sending analytics data, type:

brew analytics off

To view the current state of the Homebrew analytics, type:

$ brew analytics
Analytics are disabled.

Step 4: Search for an Application

To view detailed information about a package, type:

brew info {package_name}

For example, to see the wget package, type:

$ brew info wget
wget: stable 1.21.2 (bottled), HEAD
Internet file retriever
https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/
Not installed
From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/HEAD/Formula/wget.rb
License: GPL-3.0-or-later
==> Dependencies
Build: pkg-config ?
Required: libidn2 ?, [email protected] ?
==> Options
--HEAD
	Install HEAD version
==> Analytics
install: 185,681 (30 days), 614,388 (90 days), 1,886,703 (365 days)
install-on-request: 185,069 (30 days), 611,651 (90 days), 1,877,470 (365 days)
build-error: 0 (30 days)

As you can see above, the wget package requires libidn2 and [email protected]. If you install wget with Homebrew, it will install the dependencies too so you don’t have to install them separately.

Step 5: Install an Application

To install an application using Homebrew, type:

brew install {package_name}

For example, to install the wget application, type:

$ brew install wget
Updating Homebrew...
==> Auto-updated Homebrew!
Updated 1 tap (homebrew/core).
==> New Formulae
libsigrok
==> Updated Formulae
Updated 15 formulae.

==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/gettext/manifests/0.21
######################################################################## 100.0%
...

Step 6: List All Installed Applications Using Homebrew

To list all of the packages you have installed using Homebrew, type:

brew list

Step 7: Update All Your Installed Applications

To update Homebrew to the latest code from GitHub, type:

brew update

To update Homebrew to match the versions in the local git repository, type:

brew upgrade

Step 8: See the Documentation

To view the available documentation for Homebrew, type:

man brew