OPEN(1)                   BSD General Commands Manual                  OPEN(1)

NAME
     open -- open files and directories

SYNOPSIS
     open [-e] [-t] [-f] [-F] [-W] [-R] [-n] [-g] [-j] [-h] [-s sdk]
          [-b bundle_identifier] [-a application] file ... [--args arg1 ...]

DESCRIPTION
     The open command opens a file (or a directory or URL), just as if you had
     double-clicked the file's icon. If no application name is specified, the
     default application as determined via LaunchServices is used to open the
     specified files.

     If the file is in the form of a URL, the file will be opened as a URL.

     You can specify one or more file names (or pathnames), which are inter-
     preted relative to the shell or Terminal window's current working direc-
     tory. For example, the following command would open all Word files in the
     current working directory:

     open *.doc

     Opened applications inherit environment variables just as if you had
     launched the application directly through its full path.  This behavior
     was also present in Tiger.

     The options are as follows:

     -a application
         Specifies the application to use for opening the file

     -b bundle_indentifier
         Specifies the bundle identifier for the application to use when open-
         ing the file

     -e  Causes the file to be opened with /Applications/TextEdit

     -t  Causes the file to be opened with the default text editor, as deter-
         mined via LaunchServices

     -f  Reads input from standard input and opens the results in the default
         text editor.  End input by sending EOF character (type Control-D).
         Also useful for piping output to open and having it open in the
         default text editor.

     -F  Opens the application "fresh," that is, without restoring windows.
         Saved persistent state is lost, except for Untitled documents.

     -W  Causes open to wait until the applications it opens (or that were
         already open) have exited.  Use with the -n flag to allow open to
         function as an appropriate app for the $EDITOR environment variable.

     -R  Reveals the file(s) in the Finder instead of opening them.

     -n  Open a new instance of the application(s) even if one is already run-
         ning.

     -g  Do not bring the application to the foreground.

     -j  Launches the app hidden.

     -h  Searches header locations for a header whose name matches the given
         string and then opens it.  Pass a full header name (such as NSView.h)
         for increased performance.

     -s  For -h, partial or full SDK name to use; if supplied, only SDKs whose
         names contain the argument value are searched. Otherwise the highest
         versioned SDK in each platform is used.

     --args
         All remaining arguments are passed to the opened application in the
         argv parameter to main().  These arguments are not opened or inter-
         preted by the open tool.

EXAMPLES
     "open '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt'" opens the document in the default
     application for its type (as determined by LaunchServices).

     "open '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Applications/'" opens that directory in the
     Finder.

     "open -a /Applications/TextEdit.app '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt'"
     opens the document in the application specified (in this case, TextEdit).

     "open -b com.apple.TextEdit '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt'" opens the
     document in the application specified (in this case, TextEdit).

     "open -e '/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt'" opens the document in TextEdit.

     "ls | open -f" writes the output of the 'ls' command to a file in /tmp
     and opens the file in the default text editor (as determined by Launch-
     Services).

     "open http://www.apple.com/" opens the URL in the default browser.

     "open 'file://localhost/Volumes/Macintosh HD/foo.txt'" opens the document
     in the default application for its type (as determined by LaunchSer-
     vices).

     "open 'file://localhost/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Applications/'" opens that
     directory in the Finder.

     "open -h NSView" lists headers whose names contain NSView and allows you
     to choose which ones to open.

     "open -h NSView.h" immediately opens NSView.h.

     "open -h NSView -s OSX10.12" lists headers whose names contain NSView in
     the MacOSX 10.12 SDK and allows you to choose which ones to open.

HISTORY
     First appeared in NextStep.

macOS                           April 14, 2017                           macOS