snippetbashTip

mktemp — Create a temporary file or directory. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/mkt

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the mktemp command: Create a temporary file or directory. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/mktemp.1.html>.

Solution

mktemp — Create a temporary file or directory. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/mktemp.1.html>.

Create an empty temporary file and print its absolute path:

mktemp

Use a custom directory (defaults to the output of getconf DARWIN_USER_TEMP_DIR, or /tmp):

mktemp --tmpdir /{{path/to/temporary_directory}}

Use a custom path template (Xs are replaced with random alphanumeric characters):

mktemp {{/tmp/example.XXXXXXXX}}

Use a custom file name prefix:

mktemp -t {{example}}

Create an empty temporary directory and print its absolute path:

mktemp --directory

Code Snippets

Create an empty temporary file and print its absolute path

mktemp

Use a custom directory (defaults to the output of `getconf DARWIN_USER_TEMP_DIR`, or `/tmp`)

mktemp --tmpdir /{{path/to/temporary_directory}}

Use a custom path template (`X`s are replaced with random alphanumeric characters)

mktemp {{/tmp/example.XXXXXXXX}}

Use a custom file name prefix

mktemp -t {{example}}

Create an empty temporary directory and print its absolute path

mktemp --directory

Context

tldr-pages: osx/mktemp

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