TL;DR
Right-click while holding Option — "Copy as Pathname" appears in Finder. The fastest way to grab a full file path for Terminal or scripts.
How to do it
- Select a file or folder in Finder.
- Right-click (or Ctrl+click) on it.
- Hold down the Option key (⌥) — the context menu changes.
- Click "Copy as Pathname".
- The full path (e.g.
/Users/roger/Documents/file.pdf) is now in your clipboard.
Alternative: Drag & Drop into Terminal
Even faster: open Terminal and drag a file from Finder directly into it. The path is inserted automatically — with proper escaping for spaces.
Why this works
macOS hides some useful menu options behind modifier keys like Option (⌥), Shift (⇧), or Command (⌘). "Copy as Pathname" is one of them — it only appears while you hold Option.
Good to know
- Paths with spaces are automatically quoted when you drag into Terminal.
- You can paste the path directly into shell commands, scripts, or documentation.
- Works on every macOS version since El Capitan (2015).