Messed up $PATH variable in Mac OS X

Question

I did something to my PATH.

I was trying to add some new path and now none of the command like open ~/.bash_profile work, and echo $PATH only shows one path which is /Application/Filename.

Is there a way to fix this? This is my Mac OS X Lion.

Solution

If you messed up your ~/.bash_profile you can always edit it by supplying the absolute path to the editor:

/usr/bin/nano ~/.bash_profile

Remove any changes to PATH and press CtrlO, then ↩. Overwrite the file and reload your shell. Your path settings should be restored.

Other files that set your PATH on OS X are:

• ~/.bash_login (if ~/.bash_profile doesn't exist)
• ~/.profile (if ~/.bash_login doesn't exist)
• /etc/profile
• Everything in /etc/paths.d/
• Finally, for GUI apps: ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist

---

Always remember to use the correct formatting for your new PATH, depending on whether you want your custom binaries to take precedence over system binaries:

export PATH=/some/other/path:$PATH

… or the other way 'round:

export PATH=$PATH:/some/other/path

Comments

[HikeMike]

Alternatively, open .bash_profile in any GUI text editor, e.g. TextEdit, by pressing Cmd-Shift-. in the Open… dialog to display hidden files and folders.

[sudesh]

one fore question though, i do the export PATH.... on the terminal, and every time i reload the terminal the path is not set. how do i make it the permanent path ?

[sudesh]

never mind i answered my own question. i used /usr/bin/nano ~/.bash_profile and wrote the path there, saved it and restarted the terminal, now everything is working fine.