Homebrew Cheatsheet - macOS Package Manager Reference

A fresh Mac loses hours to $PATH and dependency mess unless you install through Homebrew. This reference covers installing/updating/removing formulas, Cask GUI apps, brew services for background daemons, mirror switches for mainland use and troubleshooting broken bottles. Unlike a package list, it tells you which flag installs from HEAD vs a bottle, and how to diagnose a brew doctor complaint. After reading you can bootstrap and repair a Mac toolchain mostly from the terminal.

Dev Tools·38 commands·Last updated 2026-07-21

Basics 12

brew install wget

Install a CLI tool

brew uninstall wget

Uninstall

brew update

Update Homebrew itself

brew upgrade

Upgrade all installed packages

brew upgrade wget

Upgrade a specific package

brew list

List installed

brew info wget

View package info

brew search nginx

Search for a package

brew cleanup

Clean up old-version caches

brew outdated

See upgradable packages

brew reinstall wget

Reinstall (fix corruption)

brew autoremove

Auto-remove unneeded dependencies

Cask GUI Apps 5

brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Install a GUI app

brew uninstall --cask visual-studio-code

Uninstall a GUI app

brew list --cask

List installed GUI apps

brew search --cask chrome

Search for GUI apps

brew upgrade --cask

Upgrade all GUI apps

Services 5

brew services list

List all service statuses

brew services start mysql

Start and enable on boot

brew services stop mysql

Stop a service

brew services restart mysql

Restart a service

brew services run mysql

Run without enabling on boot

Taps & Mirrors 5

brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts

Add a third-party tap

brew untap homebrew/cask-fonts

Remove a third-party tap

brew tap

List added taps

export HOMEBREW_API_DOMAIN="https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/homebrew-bottles/api"

Switch API mirror temporarily

export HOMEBREW_BOTTLE_DOMAIN="https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/homebrew-bottles"

Switch Bottle mirror temporarily

Troubleshooting 7

brew doctor

Check environment issues

brew config

View Homebrew config

brew deps wget

View dependencies

brew pin wget

Pin a version (no upgrade)

brew unpin wget

Unpin a version

brew leaves

See top-level manually installed packages

brew uses --installed wget

See which installed packages depend on it

Bundle Management 4

brew bundle dump

Dump installed list to Brewfile

brew bundle install

Install from Brewfile in batch

brew bundle cleanup

Clean up packages not in Brewfile

brew bundle check

Check if Brewfile dependencies are met

Tips

On slow networks, switch mirrors before install, or bottle downloads often time out.
Services managed by brew services live in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/; check there if something breaks.
brew cleanup deletes old versions and download caches; run it when disk is tight.

Official References

Each command links to its official documentation below, so you can verify the latest usage and read deeper.

Homebrew Docs

Maintained by LaoHand

Publicly updated on Jul 21, 2026, continuously proofread against official docs.

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