Where apps hide your files

Inside the ~/.oh-my-zsh folder

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Oh My Zsh installs to the hidden folder ~/.oh-my-zsh, with bundled themes and plugins inside it and your own in custom. Your theme and plugin choices are lines in ~/.zshrc, not files in that folder.

The location

~/.oh-my-zsh

That is where Oh My Zsh installs by default, according to its own README and installer. It is a hidden folder directly in your home folder. The shell variable ZSH holds the path, and the installer writes it into your ~/.zshrc as an export ZSH= line (by default export ZSH="$HOME/.oh-my-zsh"). Two exceptions to the default: the installer uses whatever ZSH is set to when it runs, and if ZDOTDIR points somewhere other than your home folder it uses $ZDOTDIR/ohmyzsh. Check yours with:

echo $ZSH
ls ~/.oh-my-zsh

Oh My Zsh was not installed on the Mac used for this guide, so the layout below comes from the project's own README, installer, oh-my-zsh.sh and wiki rather than from a local listing. Run the ls yourself to see your version.

To open the folder in Finder, use Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and type ~/.oh-my-zsh, or run open ~/.oh-my-zsh in Terminal.

Themes and plugins

The bundled themes and plugins are inside that folder, and your own go in a separate custom folder:

What	Bundled with Oh My Zsh	Your own
Themes	~/.oh-my-zsh/themes/<name>.zsh-theme	~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/themes/<name>.zsh-theme
Plugins	~/.oh-my-zsh/plugins/<name>/<name>.plugin.zsh	~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/<name>/<name>.plugin.zsh
Extra scripts	not applicable	any .zsh file in ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/

The loading code in oh-my-zsh.sh checks $ZSH_CUSTOM first and then $ZSH, so a copy of a theme or plugin in custom wins over the bundled one with the same name. For themes it also accepts a .zsh-theme file placed directly in custom/. ZSH_CUSTOM defaults to $ZSH/custom, and you can point it at another folder by setting it in ~/.zshrc, as long as the same structure is kept inside.

The README says that to override default behaviour you add a new file ending in .zsh to the custom/ folder, and custom plugins go in custom/plugins/.

Choose a theme and plugins

Both settings are lines in ~/.zshrc, not files in the Oh My Zsh folder. The template the installer uses sets:

ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"
plugins=(git)

To change theme, set ZSH_THEME to the file name without .zsh-theme. To add plugins, list their folder names inside the parentheses, separated by spaces. The README warns that commas break it. Back up ~/.zshrc before editing it:

1. cp ~/.zshrc ~/.zshrc.backup
2. Edit the lines above.
3. Open a new Terminal tab, or run source ~/.zshrc, and check the prompt or plugin works.
4. To undo, cp ~/.zshrc.backup ~/.zshrc.

Add a custom theme or plugin

For a theme from a project that is a single file, save it as ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/themes/<name>.zsh-theme and set ZSH_THEME="<name>". For a theme that comes as a folder, the lookup code tests for <theme>.zsh-theme under custom/themes, so a folder entry is written as folder/name: read the theme's own install instructions for the exact line. A plugin goes in custom/plugins/<name>/ and its main file must end in .plugin.zsh. Then add the name to plugins=(...).

To tweak a bundled theme without editing it, the wiki says to copy it into custom/themes under the same file name and edit the copy. The installer sets ~/.oh-my-zsh up as a Git clone, so changes made directly inside themes can clash with omz update; the copy in custom avoids that.

Other files it creates

• ~/.zshrc, written by the installer from its template.
• ~/.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh, your previous .zshrc, saved by the installer if one existed.
• ~/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh, your previous shell, saved before the installer offers to switch you to zsh. If your shell is already zsh, as it is by default on a Mac, the installer skips that step and this file is not created.
• ~/.zcompdump-<host>-<zsh version>, the completion cache. This is the default from oh-my-zsh.sh, in your home folder unless ZDOTDIR is set.
• A cache folder, $ZSH/cache by default, falling back to ~/.cache/oh-my-zsh if that is not writable.

Update and uninstall

Oh My Zsh updates itself with:

omz update

To remove it, the README gives the command uninstall_oh_my_zsh. Copy ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom somewhere first if you want to keep your own themes and plugins. The script then works in this order:

1. If ~/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh exists, it switches your login shell back with chsh straight away, before any question.
2. It asks "Are you sure you want to remove Oh My Zsh? [y/N]" and stops unless you answer yes.
3. It deletes ~/.oh-my-zsh with rm -rf, including anything you put in custom/. It uses that exact path, so an install in a custom folder is left for you to move to the Trash.

The script renames your current ~/.zshrc with a timestamp, to ~/.zshrc.omz-uninstalled- followed by the date and time, and moves ~/.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh back to ~/.zshrc if it exists. If it does not, you end up with no ~/.zshrc at all, and your own edits are in the renamed file.

Moving to a new Mac

Reinstall Oh My Zsh with the official installer instead of copying ~/.oh-my-zsh, then copy over ~/.zshrc and your custom folder. Git-based plugins you cloned into custom/plugins need cloning again or copying.

Why a normal search misses it

~/.oh-my-zsh starts with a dot, so Finder and Spotlight searches leave it out, and the theme files have an unusual .zsh-theme extension that nobody thinks to type.

Finding a theme or plugin again

Type zsh-theme into Everywhere to list every theme file on the Mac, bundled and custom, with their folders, or type a theme's name such as agnoster. Typing .plugin.zsh does the same for plugins, and zshrc finds your config and its backups. Hidden dot-folders in your home folder are part of what it scans, and it matches file names only, not the settings inside them. ⌘↵ reveals a result in Finder.

Common questions

Where is Oh My Zsh installed on a Mac?

In ~/.oh-my-zsh, a hidden folder in your home folder. The ZSH variable in ~/.zshrc holds the path, so echo $ZSH shows it.

Where are Oh My Zsh themes stored?

Bundled themes are in ~/.oh-my-zsh/themes as .zsh-theme files, and your own go in ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/themes. Pick one with ZSH_THEME in ~/.zshrc.

Where do I put custom Oh My Zsh plugins?

In ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/<name>/, with a main file named <name>.plugin.zsh. Then add the name to plugins=(...) in ~/.zshrc.

How do I uninstall Oh My Zsh?

Run uninstall_oh_my_zsh and confirm. It deletes ~/.oh-my-zsh, including your custom folder, so copy that first, and it renames your ~/.zshrc and restores ~/.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh if one exists.