Tilde (~) and Pipe Character (|) on Mac Keyboard

If you work frequently in your Mac's Terminal, you can't avoid some special characters that aren't immediately visible on the keyboard. The tilde (~) and pipe character (|) are particularly essential for many commands. Don't worry, even though they're not directly visible, you can type them quite easily.

Here you'll learn which keyboard shortcuts you can use to type the pipe and tilde characters.
Here you'll learn which keyboard shortcuts you can use to type the pipe and tilde characters.

Keyboard Shortcuts

For these special characters, type the following key combinations:

  • Tilde (~): Option + N (then press spacebar)
  • Pipe (|): Option + 7

Note: The Option key is also often called the ALT key and sometimes has this symbol ⎇. The key combinations work on German and English keyboards (QWERTZ and QWERTY).

What Are Tilde and Pipe Used for on Mac?

As mentioned, these two special characters are most commonly used in Terminal. I'll briefly explain in simple terms what these characters do. Terminal specialists will already know this anyway.

The Tilde (~): Direct Access to Your User Directory

  • Access to the user folder: The tilde (~) represents the home directory of the logged-in user on your Mac. This means you can quickly access your personal files without having to specify the full path. For example, typing cd ~ takes you directly to your user folder.

The Pipe Character (|): For Efficient Command Chains

  • Chaining commands: With the pipe character, you can use the output of one command directly as input for the next command. This is particularly helpful for simplifying complex tasks and completing them faster. For example, ls | grep 'vacation' allows you to list all files and simultaneously filter for the word "vacation".

Author: Sadaghian Team

Published:

Last updated: