Make Your Terminal Look Great with Oh My Zsh

// Before you start

What you need

macOS, Linux, Android, or Windows with WSL2
A terminal app open and ready
Zsh installed — run 'zsh --version' to check (macOS has it by default since Catalina)
curl installed — run 'curl --version' to check (almost always pre-installed)
git installed — run 'git --version' to check

Step 1 of 5

Check that Zsh is installed

1 min

Oh My Zsh only works with the Zsh shell, not the default bash shell on some systems. This command tells you which version you have. If you get a version number back, you are good to go. If you get 'command not found', you need to install Zsh first — search 'install zsh' plus your operating system name for instructions.

Terminal · mac

$ zsh --version

What you should see

zsh 5.9 (or any version 5.0.8 or higher)

This might happen

'command not found' — Zsh is not installed

On Ubuntu/Debian run: sudo apt install zsh — On Fedora run: sudo dnf install zsh — On macOS it is already included since Catalina

Step 2 of 5

Install Oh My Zsh

2 min

This single command downloads the Oh My Zsh installer from GitHub and runs it immediately. It will back up your existing shell config file (renaming it to .zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh), create a fresh one, and switch your default shell to Zsh. You may be asked for your password — that is normal. When it finishes, your terminal prompt will change appearance right away.

Terminal · mac

$ sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

What you should see

A banner saying 'Oh My Zsh is now installed!' and a new-looking prompt ending with an arrow or similar symbol

This might happen

The GitHub URL times out — common in China and some parts of India

Use the mirror instead: sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://install.ohmyz.sh/)"

Step 3 of 5

Pick a theme

3 min

Oh My Zsh ships with 140+ themes. The default is called 'robbyrussell'. To try a different one, you edit one line in your config file. The command below opens that file in the nano text editor, which works entirely inside the terminal. Find the line that says ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell" and change the word inside the quotes to any theme name you like. Browse screenshots at https://github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/wiki/Themes first. When done editing, press Ctrl+O then Enter to save, then Ctrl+X to exit.

Terminal · mac

$ nano ~/.zshrc

What you should see

The nano editor opens showing your config file. Look for the line: ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"

This might happen

Fancy themes like 'agnoster' show broken box characters or question marks

Those themes need a Nerd Font or Powerline Font installed in your terminal app. Stick with simple themes like 'clean', 'bira', or 'ys' if you do not want to install extra fonts.

Step 4 of 5

Enable a plugin

3 min

Plugins add shortcuts and smart features for tools you already use. For example, the 'git' plugin adds dozens of short aliases so you type 'gst' instead of 'git status'. To enable plugins, open the same config file and find the line that starts with 'plugins='. Add plugin names inside the parentheses, separated by spaces — never commas. The git plugin is already on by default. Good starter additions: docker, node, python, macos (Mac only). After saving, reload the config with the source command shown below.

Terminal · mac

$ nano ~/.zshrc

What you should see

Find the plugins line. It will look like: plugins=(git) — edit it to add more, e.g.: plugins=(git docker node python)

This might happen

You added commas between plugin names and now the shell shows errors on startup

Open ~/.zshrc again and remove all commas. Plugin names must be separated by spaces only.

Step 5 of 5

Reload your shell to apply changes

1 min

After saving any edits to .zshrc, you need to reload it so the changes take effect in your current terminal window. This command does that instantly without closing and reopening the terminal. Alternatively, just open a new terminal tab — that works too.

Terminal · mac

$ source ~/.zshrc

What you should see

Your prompt refreshes. If you changed the theme, it will look different now. No error messages means everything loaded correctly.

This might happen

Error messages appear after sourcing, mentioning a plugin name

One of the plugin names you added is misspelled or does not exist. Open ~/.zshrc, remove the problem plugin name, and run source ~/.zshrc again.

// Status

cooked. baked. worked.

A terminal with a styled prompt, auto-suggestions, and plugin shortcuts active. Your old config is safely backed up as .zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh.

// the honest bit

The honest part

Oh My Zsh only affects the Zsh shell. If your terminal opens bash by default, the changes will not appear until Zsh is set as your default shell — the installer usually does this for you, but it may require logging out and back in. Themes only change your prompt text, not your terminal's background color or font — those are set inside your terminal app's preferences. Some popular themes require extra font installation that goes beyond this guide.