Here’s one quick tip for making better use of iTerm 2 in MacOS.
I’ve finally found a use for that weird § symbol at the top left of your keyboard that you don’t use!
It can be set up to make your iTerm2 terminal drop-down from the top of your screen. It will do this regardless of what application you’re in.
If you’re in full-screen mode with an app, it will bring you back to your desktop. When you close it, you’ll be brought back to the full-screen app.
How to do this
See below images for help.
- Open up the preferences menu using cmd + ~ or at the top of the screen click iTerm2 then Preferences…
- Select Keys > Hotkey
- Press “Create a dedicated Hotkey Window…”
- Click in the box that says “Click to Set”
- Press the § button and you’re done!
Now, every time you press that button a hotkey window will appear.
By default, the hotkey window is slightly transparent but you can turn this off in Preferences… > Profiles > Hotkey Window > Window. Drag the Transparency slider to the left.
Why is this useful?
A lot of people tell me that it’s “just as fast” to do a few clicks with their mouse than to open and use the terminal. This makes it really fast to do all the things I’ve taught you about the terminal.