Installing Apps with Homebrew on macOS 26 Tahoe

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

Hi there! In this article, I’ll be going over how to install and use Homebrew on macOS, including how to install it, install & upgrade software with it and more.

This article covers macOS 26 but works on other versions of macOS as well.

What is Homebrew?

Homebrew is an open‑source package manager that lets you install and update software from the command line. If you’ve used apt or dnf on Linux, or Chocolatey and winget on Windows, Homebrew is the macOS equivalent.

You can install command‑line tools, audio & video codecs, macOS desktop apps, and more. (It can also install apps from the Mac App Store, but that is outside the scope of this guide.)

Homebrew is useful for developers, system administrators, and anyone who wants a single source to manage software on their Mac. It isn’t built into macOS, so you need to install it first.

Installing Homebrew

1. Open Terminal (via Spotlight or Applications → Utilities → Terminal). Any terminal emulator (e.g., iTerm2) works the same way.

2. Install the Command Line Tools for Xcode, a Homebrew dependency:

   xcode-select --install

   

   Click Install, agree to the license, and wait for the installation to finish. Click Done when it’s complete.

3. Accept the Xcode license:

   sudo xcodebuild -license

   When prompted, type agree and press Enter.

   

4. Install Homebrew itself:

   • Open a web browser and go to .
   • Copy the install command shown under Install Homebrew and paste it into Terminal, then press Enter.

   

   • Enter your password if prompted.
   • Press Enter to create the necessary directories.

   

   The installation may take a while depending on your internet speed.

5. Run the “next steps” commands shown at the end of the installer (you can paste them all at once).

   

6. Close the Terminal window and open a new one so the changes take effect.

Updating Homebrew

Even right after installation, it’s a good idea to update Homebrew to ensure you have the latest version and formulae database:

brew update

The command may take a few moments.

Searching for Packages

To see if a package is available, use brew search followed by the package name. Example:

brew search htop

The output shows that htop is available as a formula.

Getting Information About Packages

Once you know a package exists, you can view detailed information with brew info:

brew info htop