---
title: "New to terminals"
description: "Never used a terminal? One line in your Mac's own Terminal installs Ghostty and Creator Terminal, then opens it."
canonical: "https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/new-to-terminals/"
last_updated: 2026-10-31
---

# New to terminals

Never used a terminal? One line in your Mac's own Terminal installs Ghostty and Creator Terminal, then opens it.

A terminal is an app where you type commands. Creator Terminal runs in one. Ghostty is a free
terminal that shows its animations as sharp pictures. You only type one line, once.

## On a Mac

1. Open Terminal, the one your Mac comes with: press ⌘ Space, type **Terminal**, and press
   Return.
2. Paste this line into it and press Return:

   ```
   curl -fsSL https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/ghostty.sh | sh
   ```

3. Creator Terminal opens in Ghostty. You can close Terminal.

The line puts two apps on your Mac:

- **Ghostty** (from [ghostty.org](https://ghostty.org)), in your Applications folder. If you have
  it already, the line uses it as it is and leaves its settings alone.
- **Creator Terminal**, as [the install line](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/install.md) puts it: it keeps itself up to date.

Next time, open **Creator Terminal** with ⌘ Space or from Applications: it opens in Ghostty.

Exporting videos needs ffmpeg as well. The line offers it where your Mac has Homebrew or
MacPorts; otherwise, [Install](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/install.md#ffmpeg) says how to get it.

> **Note:** It needs macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

## On Windows

Windows comes with what Creator Terminal needs.

1. Open PowerShell: press the Windows key, type **PowerShell**, and press Enter.
2. Paste this line into it and press Enter:

   ```
   irm https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/install.ps1 | iex
   ```

3. Creator Terminal opens. Next time, open it from the Start Menu.

## On Linux

Your desktop has a terminal already. For the sharpest pictures, install Ghostty from your
distribution's packages ([ghostty.org/docs/install/binary](https://ghostty.org/docs/install/binary)),
open it, and paste [the install line](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/install.md).

Next: [Your first animation](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/getting-started.md)