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Course/Computer Basics Without Fear

6 min · +100 XP

The terminal is a text box

How to open it, how to open it in a folder, and why you will not need to learn commands.

By the end of this lesson

You will be able to open a terminal, paste a line into it and stop anything that keeps running.

The terminal is a window where you give the computer instructions as text. You type a line, press Enter, and the computer answers with text. Claude Code runs inside this window.

You do not need to learn terminal commands for this course. You will paste one line to install Claude Code and type one word to start it. After that you write to Claude in plain words, and it runs whatever commands are needed itself.

How to open it

Mac

Mac: open Terminal

  1. 1Press Cmd+Space. The Spotlight search bar appears.
  2. 2Type Terminal.
  3. 3Press Enter. A window with a blinking cursor opens.
Windows

Windows: open PowerShell

  1. 1Press Win+X (the Windows key and X together). A menu opens next to the Start button.
  2. 2Click Windows PowerShell, or Terminal on Windows 11.
  3. 3A window with a blinking cursor opens. The line starts with PS, for example PS C:\Users\Anna>. PS means you are in PowerShell.
Linux

Linux: open the terminal

  1. 1Press Ctrl+Alt+T. On most distributions this opens the terminal.
  2. 2If nothing happens, open the application menu and search for Terminal.

What you see

The line where the cursor blinks is called the prompt. It means the computer is waiting for you, and it usually shows the folder you are in. The sign ~ stands for your home folder.

For beginners
›The prompt line, piece by piece

On a Mac it may look like anna@MacBook-Air ~ %: your user name, the computer's name, the current folder (~ is home) and the % sign. On Windows it looks like PS C:\Users\Anna>. You type after the last sign. Nothing happens until you press Enter.

Paste and press Enter

Everything you will do in the terminal comes down to this: paste a line, press Enter, read the answer.

Mac

Mac: paste

  1. 1Copy the line on the page (the Copy button or Cmd+C).
  2. 2Click inside the Terminal window and press Cmd+V.
  3. 3Press Enter.
Windows

Windows: paste

  1. 1Copy the line on the page (the Copy button or Ctrl+C).
  2. 2Click inside the PowerShell window and press Ctrl+V, or right-click.
  3. 3Press Enter.
Linux

Linux: paste

  1. 1Copy the line on the page (the Copy button or Ctrl+C).
  2. 2Click inside the terminal and press Ctrl+Shift+V (plain Ctrl+V usually does not work there).
  3. 3Press Enter.
✓Nothing breaks

Opening the terminal, pressing Enter on an empty line or closing the window harms nothing. If something keeps running and you want it to stop, press Ctrl+C. On a Mac it is also Control+C: Cmd+C only copies text.

Requests instead of commands

People used to learn commands to look around: one to show the current folder, one to list files, one to move into a folder. With Claude Code you ask in plain words, and Claude runs the commands and answers in words.

💬 Tell Claude

“Which folder are we in, and what is inside it? Explain in plain words.”

Claude looks around and lists the files and folders it found. Works once Claude Code is installed.

MacLinux
Practice: ask instead of typing commandsTask 1 of 3

An imitation of Claude Code in a terminal. Write each request in your own words and press Enter. Nothing here touches your computer.

1Ask Claude which folder you are in. Any wording works, for example: which folder are we in?

claude ▸
Safe: nothing here touches your computer.
Windows
Practice: ask instead of typing commandsTask 1 of 3

An imitation of Claude Code in Windows PowerShell. Write each request in your own words and press Enter. Nothing here touches your computer.

1Ask Claude which folder you are in. Any wording works, for example: which folder are we in?

claude ▸
Safe: nothing here touches your computer.

What you can do now

  1. 1Open a terminal.
  2. 2Paste a line and press Enter.
  3. 3Stop anything that keeps running: Ctrl+C (on a Mac: Control+C, not Cmd).
  4. 4Close the window when you are done. That is safe.
  5. 5Everything else, such as finding files or creating folders, you ask Claude to do.
Quick check

Something in the terminal keeps printing text and does not stop. What do you press?

Quick check

Claude Code is running and you want to know what files are in the folder. What do you do?

Quick check

The prompt shows ~. Where are you?

Facts checked against the official Claude Code docs October 24, 2026 · source

EAEvgenii Arsentev

Author

Evgenii Arsentev

PhD · Chief Executive Officer, digital health