How do I reset and put the zshrc file back to default?

Question

/Users/ello/.zshrc:source:3: no such file or directory: 
/Users/ello/Projects/config/env.sh
Ello-MacBook-Pro% /Users/ello/.zshrc:source
zsh: no such file or directory: /Users/ello/.zshrc:source
Ello-MacBook-Pro% /Users/ello/.zshrc
zsh: permission denied: /Users/ello/.zshrc
Ello-MacBook-Pro%

This has been happening, after I foolishly edited the .zshrc file. All that remains in the file now, after attempting to reset the shell, is this:

# Created by newuser for 5.3.1
# Add env.sh

How do I undo everything, reinstall zsh, or remake the .zshrc file?

This is on macOS Sierra.

Edit: I reinstalled oh-my-zsh, leading to this message:

ain() {
# Use colors, but only if connected to a terminal, and that terminal
# supports them.
if which tput >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  ncolors=$(tput colors)
fi
if [ -t 1 ] && [ -n "$ncolors" ] && [ "$ncolors" -ge 8 ]; then
RED="$(tput setaf 1)"
GREEN="$(tput setaf 2)"
YELLOW="$(tput setaf 3)"
BLUE="$(tput setaf 4)"
BOLD="$(tput bold)"
NORMAL="$(tput sgr0)"
else
RED=""
GREEN=""
YELLOW=""
BLUE=""
BOLD=""
NORMAL=""
fi

# Only enable exit-on-error after the non-critical colorization 
 stuff,
# which may fail on systems lacking tput or terminfo
set -e

CHECK_ZSH_INSTALLED=$(grep /zsh$ /etc/shells | wc -l)
if [ ! $CHECK_ZSH_INSTALLED -ge 1 ]; then
printf "${YELLOW}Zsh is not installed!${NORMAL} Please install zsh 
first!\n"
exit
 fi
unset CHECK_ZSH_INSTALLED

if [ ! -n "$ZSH" ]; then
ZSH=~/.oh-my-zsh
fi

if [ -d "$ZSH" ]; then
printf "${YELLOW}You already have Oh My Zsh installed.${NORMAL}\n"
printf "You'll need to remove $ZSH if you want to re-install.\n"
exit
fi

# Prevent the cloned repository from having insecure permissions. 
Failing to do
# so causes compinit() calls to fail with "command not found: 
compdef" errors
# for users with insecure umasks (e.g., "002", allowing group 
writability). Note
# that this will be ignored under Cygwin by default, as Windows ACLs 
take
# precedence over umasks except for filesystems mounted with option 
"noacl".
umask g-w,o-w

printf "${BLUE}Cloning Oh My Zsh...${NORMAL}\n"
hash git >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
echo "Error: git is not installed"
exit 1
}
# The Windows (MSYS) Git is not compatible with normal use on cygwin
if [ "$OSTYPE" = cygwin ]; then
if git --version | grep msysgit > /dev/null; then
  echo "Error: Windows/MSYS Git is not supported on Cygwin"
  echo "Error: Make sure the Cygwin git package is installed and is 
first on the path"
  exit 1
fi
fi
env git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh.git 
$ZSH || {
printf "Error: git clone of oh-my-zsh repo failed\n"
exit 1
 }


  printf "${BLUE}Looking for an existing zsh config...${NORMAL}\n"
if [ -f ~/.zshrc ] || [ -h ~/.zshrc ]; then
  printf "${YELLOW}Found ~/.zshrc.${NORMAL} ${GREEN}Backing up to 
~/.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh${NORMAL}\n";
mv ~/.zshrc ~/.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh;
fi

Gestalt

Answer 1

There is no such thing as "default". The best you can do, is check if your system has /etc/skel/.zshrc. If yes copy that into your home.

When you log in first time, your home is populated with everything from /etc/skel.

Leucippus

I just checked and I do not appear to have this file. Should I just attempt to reinstall zsh again? – Gestalt

@ShruHooWoo That seems like overkill. Just create a new .zshrc from scratch to your liking - it uses the exact same syntax as zsh. It should not be very difficult, and it might be a good learning experience. – Leucippus

I was able to successfully remake the file, and I can't thank you (and everyone else who answered) enough. – Gestalt

Answer 2

zsh itself does not have a default user configuration. So the default ~/.zshrc is actually no ~/.zshrc.

But as you tagged the question with oh-my-zsh I would assume that you want to restore the default oh-my-zsh configuration. For this it should be sufficient to copy templates/zshrc.zsh-template from your oh-my-zsh installation path, usually ~/.oh-my-zsh:

cp ~/.oh-my-zsh/templates/zshrc.zsh-template ~/.zshrc

You may want to backup your current ~/.zshrc beforehand. Although it may have some problems now, you still might want to look up some settings once you reverted to default.

Bellbella

The source for this has been helpful for me to reference: github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/blob/master/templates/… – Donyadoodad

Answer 3

My dumass decided to just put a crash command into the zsh file. Now when I open the terminal, it just kernel panics. so I just deleted the config file using rm -f ~/.zshrc* and by default, it just got replaced with another copy. So good luck.

Monograph

Answer 4

[Windows Friendly Solution - If terminal(using vim editor) steps are confusing]

Actually, there is no default .zshrc file, but if you need to edit is as a simple notepad, do these:

1. Goto /Users/ Folder via Finder App.
2. Click Shift + Command + . (Dot) to view hidden system files.
3. Look on .zshrc file, double click to open, then it will open in a notepad(TextEdit.app) in default.
4. Clear whichever lines to be removed.
5. Retype/Edit the file as per the Paths to be added.
6. Hit Command + s to save and exit.

Melgar

Answer 5

In macOS Ventura, /etc/zshrc holds the system-wide profile for zsh. Creating a ~/.zshrc would overrides it with a user profile.

Bezanson

Answer 6

You can copy .zshrc template from

https://github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/blob/master/templates/zshrc.zsh-template

And copy and paste all content in to ~/.zshrc

Columelliform

Answer 7

Make it your default shell using this command:

 chsh -s $(which zsh)

Vasomotor

This explains how to set the user's default shell to zsh, not how to restore their zsh configuration. – Wheelchair