Neo Zed
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Neo Zed on macOS

Neo Zed is developed primarily on macOS, making it a first-class platform with full feature support.

Installing Neo Zed

Download Neo Zed from the download page. The download is a .dmg file—open it and drag Neo Zed to your Applications folder.

For the preview build, which receives updates about a week ahead of stable, visit the preview releases page.

After installation, Neo Zed checks for updates automatically and prompts you when a new version is available.

Homebrew

You can also install Neo Zed using Homebrew:

brew install --cask neozed

For the preview version:

brew install --cask neozed@preview

Building from Source

To build Neo Zed from source, see the macOS development documentation.

System Requirements

  • macOS 10.15.7 (Catalina) or later
  • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) or Intel processor

Neo Zed uses Metal for GPU-accelerated rendering, which is available on all supported macOS versions.

Installing the CLI

Neo Zed includes a command-line tool for opening files and projects from Terminal. To install it:

  1. Open Neo Zed
  2. Open the command palette with Cmd+Shift+P
  3. Run cli: install

This creates a neozed command in /usr/local/bin. You can then open files and folders:

neozed .                    # Open current folder
neozed file.txt             # Open a file
neozed project/ file.txt    # Open a folder and a file

See the CLI Reference for all available options.

Uninstall

  1. Quit Neo Zed if it's running
  2. Drag Neo Zed from Applications to the Trash
  3. Optionally, remove your settings and extensions:
rm -rf ~/.config/neozed
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Neo\ Zed
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Neo\ Zed
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/dev.neozed
rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/Neo\ Zed
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/dev.neozed.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/dev.neozed.savedState

If you installed the CLI, remove it with:

rm /usr/local/bin/neozed

Troubleshooting

Neo Zed won't open or shows "damaged" warning

If macOS reports that Neo Zed is damaged or can't be opened, it's likely a Gatekeeper issue. Try:

  1. Right-click (or Control-click) on Neo Zed in Applications
  2. Select "Open" from the context menu
  3. Click "Open" in the dialog that appears

This tells macOS to trust the application.

If that doesn't work, remove the quarantine attribute:

xattr -cr "/Applications/Neo Zed.app"

CLI command not found

If the neozed command isn't available after installation:

  1. Check that /usr/local/bin is in your PATH
  2. Try reinstalling the CLI via cli: install in the command palette
  3. Open a new terminal window to reload your PATH

GPU or rendering issues

Neo Zed uses Metal for rendering. If you experience graphical glitches:

  1. Ensure macOS is up to date
  2. Restart your Mac to reset the GPU state
  3. Check Activity Monitor for GPU pressure from other apps

High memory or CPU usage

If Neo Zed uses more resources than expected:

  1. Check for runaway language servers in the terminal output (zed: open log)
  2. Try disabling extensions one by one to identify conflicts
  3. For large projects, consider using project settings to exclude unnecessary folders from indexing

For additional help, see the Troubleshooting guide or visit the Neo Zed community.