for questions about graphical and terminal versions of Emacs on macOS operating system. Please specify which package of Emacs for macOS you are using!
macOS consists of a Mach/BSD-based kernel, operating system interfaces primarily based on FreeBSD, and additional frameworks (written in C, C++ and Objective-C) providing user interface and application-level services.
There are several packages of Emacs for macOS with slightly different feature sets. When asking about Emacs on macOS, please specify which package you are using (the URL where you downloaded it is often good enough).
- https://emacsformacosx.com/ provides a popular packaging of GNU Emacs for macOS based on the upstream GNU sources
- https://aquamacs.org/ provides a version of GNU Emacs with various adaptations to make it better conform to the conventions of the macOS GUI and Apple's human interface guidelines
- Homebrew provides a GNU Emacs recipe https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/emacs
There are several others; see also What is the difference between Aquamacs and other Mac versions of Emacs?
