Set Up Your Mac

Written & tested for accuracy by a developer (not AI) · Updated June 2026

Set Up Your Mac with Homebrew

This is a free Mac app that installs and configures Homebrew for you. It is from the author of the Mac Install Guide. It is the fastest path to a working, verified Homebrew setup.

With Homebrew, a package manager, you can install everyday apps such as desktop AI or Zoom, free tools, and building blocks for projects of your own. It's like a free app store for your Mac. It is the most popular package manager for macOS, and one of the first things you set up on a new Mac, but the install is not finished when the script ends: on Apple Silicon, Homebrew's installer puts its folder at the end of your $PATH, after Apple's own commands, and leaves the last step to you. That last step is the one beginners skip.

This app does the whole job for you, the way experts do it, and then verifies it works so you avoid installation headaches. It is free. You do not need an account to download it, it shows you every change before it makes it, and it never touches a file without asking. If you would rather read the why, my Homebrew tutorials cover every step. If you would rather just have a working, fully configured Homebrew right now, download this app.

Download the app "Set Up Your Mac with Homebrew"

Requires a Mac with Apple Silicon and macOS 15 or later.

No account is needed. There is no trial, no paid upgrade. Most setups finish in a few minutes.

Get more information

Every step includes a link to a Mac Install Guide web page, like this one, that gives more information about the setup. Skip the links if you just want to get things done. If you have time, use the links to learn more. It is like a course, only it is free, with no homework.

Who it is for

You do not have to be an experienced developer to use this app. You might be:

  • New to the terminal, realizing you need to "install Homebrew" for a tool, a tutorial, or a course, and you would rather get things working before learning technical details.
  • Stuck on a setup error such as zsh: command not found: brew, and wanting a clean install that just works.
  • Setting up a new Mac and wanting Homebrew and the developer tools in place in one step.
  • A developer who just wants Homebrew installed and the shell configured correctly, without the manual $PATH step.

If you need to "install Homebrew" with a complete and convenient setup, this app is for you.

Why use the app instead of doing it by hand

You can install Homebrew manually, and my Homebrew and Install Homebrew tutorials cover every step. Reading them is still the best way to understand the why.

Two things make the app worth it even if you could do it by hand. First, verification: it proves brew works in a fresh terminal, so you are not left with a setup that looks finished but will not run. Second, the shell configuration that is easy to skip: Homebrew's installer ends by asking you to run commands that add its shellenv line. Skip them, and when you install a command with Homebrew that macOS also has, such as git, your terminal runs Apple's copy instead. The app adds the line correctly and backs up your file first. The app does all of it in one pass, the way I would, far faster than reading the whole tutorial and with a verified result.

I am the author of the Mac Install Guide and have written macOS tutorials since 2018. I added the Set Up Your Mac apps recently because I kept seeing that some setups are simply easier with a tool than with a tutorial. You can still read the tutorials to learn the details; sometimes it is just better to get the setup done correctly the first time and learn the rest later.

What the app does, step by step

I built this to be an app I can trust, so nothing happens behind your back. The app shows you each step in detail before it runs anything, and you can skip any optional step.

  1. It checks what you have. It looks for your macOS version, a terminal application, the Xcode Command Line Tools, and whether Homebrew is already installed, then explains exactly what is missing in plain language.
  2. It installs the Xcode Command Line Tools. Homebrew needs them. With your permission, the app installs them if they are missing.
  3. It installs Homebrew. With your permission (the standard macOS password prompt, nothing custom), it runs the official Homebrew installer. You can cancel at any moment.
  4. It configures your shell. On Apple Silicon, Homebrew is installed in /opt/homebrew, which is not on the default $PATH. Homebrew's installer adds that folder to the end of the $PATH, after Apple's own commands. The app adds Homebrew's shellenv line to your ~/.zprofile, which puts Homebrew's folder first, so a command you install with Homebrew, such as git, runs instead of Apple's copy. It shows you the exact change first and backs up the file before editing it. If Homebrew is already installed but this line is missing, as happens when Homebrew's final "Next steps" commands were skipped, the app offers to finish the setup.
  5. It verifies the setup. It opens a fresh shell and runs brew --version, so you know Homebrew genuinely runs, not just downloaded. Most setups skip this check, so a setup can look finished and still fail in a new window. It also checks that Homebrew can write to its own folders. If a folder belongs to another user account, the app shows you how to fix it. On an administrator account, it shows the Terminal commands Homebrew gives for the fix. On a standard account, it tells you to run the app from the account that set up Homebrew.

System requirements and how to run it

The app requires a Mac with Apple Silicon and macOS 15 or later. If you install everything it offers, setup can use up to about 5 GB of disk space, and less if your Mac already has some of these tools. It also needs an internet connection for the downloads.

First, check the macOS version. If you are running an older version, upgrade macOS to the latest macOS version. Then:

  1. Download Set-Up-Your-Mac-with-Homebrew.dmg from downloads.install.guide.
  2. Double-click the file to mount the disk image.
  3. Drag the app to /Applications/.
  4. Launch the app from /Applications/ or from Spotlight.
  5. Accept the first-run consent screen.
  6. Click "Check my setup" to begin.

The app takes care of the rest. I hope you like it.

Is it safe to run?

Short answer: yes, and you can verify every part of it.

  • Signed and notarized by Apple. macOS Gatekeeper launches it without warnings, after the standard "downloaded from the internet" first-launch confirmation.
  • Every change is shown first. Before it acts, the app shows you what it will install, the shell line it will add, and the backup it will make. Nothing is stealthy or tricky.
  • Your password stays with macOS. Anything that needs a password uses Apple's standard authorization dialog, so the system handles your password, never the app.
  • It never overwrites your files. Your shell configuration is backed up before any edit.
  • It does not linger. No background process, no menu bar app, no launchd service, no auto-launch at login, no auto-update. Quit it and it is gone until you open it again.
  • It does not uninstall anything. Whatever you already have stays exactly where it is.

Your privacy

The app sends anonymous event counts so I can tell whether it is actually helping people, for example "the check step finished" or "the verify step passed." It does not send your name, email address, IP address, or any identifier I could use to contact you, and it does not send your shell config or a list of what is installed on your Mac. Each launch gets a random session identifier that resets when you quit. Full details are in the Mac Install privacy article.

Download the app "Set Up Your Mac with Homebrew"

Intel Macs

Intel Macs. This app can't set up a Mac with an Intel processor. The Set Up Your Mac apps rely on Homebrew, and Homebrew can't be installed on Intel-based Macs (as of September 2026). On an Intel Mac, you can still install the Xcode Command Line Tools yourself and use MacPorts as your package manager.