How to reset Terminal?

OmarBader wrote:

guys I installed several packages like npm, python, aws amplify and i don't know what else, and some of them are duplicated and everything is woking fine, i have some issues with some commands and some conflicts and i don't know what those are but i'd like uninstall all those commands or packages, i want to reset terminal and start over, is that possible without reinstalling macos or resetting whole system?

That's hard to say, girlfriend.

Terminal is just a command line interface. You'll have two problems to resolve.

First, you'll need to remove any changes to your dot files. The easiest way to do this is to create a new user account. Copy the dot files from that new account to your account. If you copy the actual files instead of just the content, make sure to use the correct ownership and permissions.

Next, you'll need to clean up the installations themselves. Don't bother trying to uninstall. That'll never work. You just have to delete everything inside "/usr/local". You can't remove the actual "/usr/local" directory, just the contents.

But before you delete any of those dotfiles in step one, take note of any paths that had been added. In most cases, these kinds of packages are installed into /usr/local, but they don't have to be. If there are any other installs in /opt, for example, then you'll also need to clean those out.

Most of these command-line projects don't have any kind of uninstaller. They all install into the same place, so you can't manually differentiate one project from the next. You have to delete all of them. And you must delete them. If you try to reinstall, you could install a different version that could have older, newer, and/or incompatible files.

However, if you aren't very command-line savvy, then an easier option would be to erase the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. I normally recommend this to anyone who had installed homebrew. Those people usually can't manage to correct their dot files on their own.

The macOS doesn't have any package management system. Homebrew is just pathetic. But even on Linux, package management systems regularly fail. People never mention those kinds of real-world problems, because they live in a make-believe world of the internet, where they are all just cosplaying as developers and system admins.

Start Over from Scratch 

You can spend hours or days hunting down all the bits and pieces of this software and never really get it all off the computer

For Apple Silicon computer >> Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon.

Always make a Time Machine Backup  before  proceeding 

If going this route - I suggest Not using Startup Assist to migrate everything back.

OmarBader wrote:

they are too many for me, some with different versions and some in different directories, is not there a way to list all packages or just reset terminal as quick action?

Terminal isn't where those things exist. Terminal just allows you to run a shell which you use to access all the packages you installed. The only way to reset them is to erase your drive, reinstall macOS. You should still be able to migrate your user data from your backup.

Check the documentation for the packages you installed. The Terminal provides a method of interacting with them, but doesn't contain their components.

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Hey OmarBader!

I believe you may be able to use the pkgutil command for this, although I could be wrong I’m a bit rusty 😂👍!

Get started with Terminal on Mac - Apple Support

You may end up still having to erase the drive and reinstall a fresh copy of the OS though but hope that’s not the case!

Always keep a good backup!

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

Hope it works out!

Considering the topic, probably the best advice for this issue! 👍 Hope it works out!

👍