Resolving the 'zsh: command not found: go' Error on macOS After Installing Go with Brew

After installing Go with Homebrew on macOS, if you encounter the zsh: command not found: go error, it likely means that the Go binary is not in your system’s PATH. Here’s how to troubleshoot and fix this issue.

1. Verify Go Installation

First, ensure that Go is indeed installed through Homebrew:

brew list go

If Go is listed, it means the installation was successful.

2. Locate Go Binary

Find out where Homebrew has installed Go:

brew --prefix go

This command should return the directory where Go is installed, like /usr/local/opt/go.

3. Update PATH

You need to add Go’s binary directory to your PATH. If Go is installed in /usr/local/opt/go, its binaries are likely in /usr/local/opt/go/bin. Add this to your PATH in your .zshrc file.

Open your .zshrc file:

nano ~/.zshrc

Add the following line to the file:

export PATH="/usr/local/opt/go/bin:$PATH"

Save and close the file.

4. Apply Changes

Apply the changes to your current terminal session:

source ~/.zshrc

5. Verify PATH Update

Check if the PATH update is successful:

echo $PATH

You should see /usr/local/opt/go/bin in the output.

6. Test Go Command

Finally, test if the go command is recognized:

go version

This command should output the installed version of Go, confirming that the issue is resolved.