Add the following in .profile: export CLICOLOR=1 If you want to customize the coloring scheme, then define your color scheme with LSCOLORS. e.g. export LSCOLORS=ExFxCxDxBxegedabagacad http://apple.stackexchange.com/a/33679 Bash About the author Xuan Ngo is the founder of OpenWritings.net. He currently lives in Montreal, Canada. He loves to write about programming and open source subjects.