To update macOS from the command line, first launch Terminal, which can be found in the Applications/Utilities folder. This will open a Terminal window and a command prompt for you to begin typing.

Input the following command and press Enter: softwareupdate -l

Wait as your Mac searches Apple’s servers for any macOS software updates currently available for your system. If no updates are available, you’ll be returned to the command prompt.

Now let’s take a look at the command’s output. Available updates always appear as items in a list. In our example, only one update is available at this time, but every item follows the same format, as shown:

The asterisked line denotes the individual software update package that’s available for your Mac to download. This line is also known as the identifier.

The second line offers a more detailed description of the update, including the version number (usually in brackets) and the download file size in kilobytes. [Recommended] means the update is recommended for all users, and [restart] indicates that your Mac needs to reboot for installation to complete.