How to create and use aliases in Zsh

Aliases in Zsh allow assigning short names to longer commands, simplifying repetitive tasks. By defining aliases, users reduce keystrokes and improve workflow speed. These shortcuts provide quick ways to run complex commands or apply common options consistently.

Placing aliases in startup files like ~/.zshrc ensures they are available in every session. Advanced users can maintain sets of aliases for different projects or activities, customizing the shell to personal or organizational standards.

Once mastered, aliases streamline the command-line experience, making frequently used operations more accessible. Proper alias management helps maintain a cleaner command history and reduces the cognitive load of recalling full commands.

1. Open a Zsh terminal.
2. Edit ~/.zshrc to define a new alias.

   $ nano ~/.zshrc

   Add a line such as:

   alias ll='ls -l --human-readable'

   for a convenient listing command.

3. Save and source the file.

   $ source ~/.zshrc

   Sourcing updates the shell environment with new aliases immediately.

4. Test the alias.

   $ ll
   total 8
   -rw-r--r-- 1 user user  512 Jan 1 12:00 file1.txt
   -rw-r--r-- 1 user user 1024 Jan 1 12:00 file2.txt

5. Use alias to list defined aliases.

   $ alias
   alias ll='ls -l --human-readable'

   If an alias does not work, verify the ~/.zshrc syntax and that it is sourced.