zsh: command not found: php

zsh: command not found: php on a Mac usually means there is no PHP on the machine at all. Apple bundled PHP up to macOS 11 Big Sur and removed it in macOS 12 Monterey. Old tutorials that say "PHP comes with your Mac" no longer apply, and a macOS upgrade can make a working php disappear.

Check what you have

command -v php
ls /opt/homebrew/bin/php /usr/local/bin/php 2>/dev/null
brew list --versions | grep '^php'

Nothing at all: install PHP (next section).
A Homebrew PHP shows up in brew list but command -v php is empty: it is a PATH or linking problem, see below.
The same error in bash reads -bash: php: command not found. The fix is the same; only the startup file differs (~/.bash_profile).

Install PHP with Homebrew

brew install php
rehash
php --version

Homebrew installs php into /opt/homebrew/bin on Apple silicon and /usr/local/bin on Intel Macs. If brew itself is missing, start with zsh: command not found: brew.

A specific PHP version: [email protected] is keg-only

brew install php gives you the newest release. Older versions come as versioned formulas, for example [email protected]. Homebrew installs those "keg-only": the files are on disk, but nothing is linked into /opt/homebrew/bin, so zsh still cannot find php. You have two options:

brew install [email protected]

# Option 1: link it (unlink the current php first if you have one)
brew unlink php
brew link --force --overwrite [email protected]

# Option 2: keep it unlinked and put it first on PATH, in ~/.zprofile
export PATH="$(brew --prefix [email protected])/bin:$(brew --prefix [email protected])/sbin:$PATH"

Open a new terminal tab and check php --version. Homebrew prints the exact lines for your machine after the install; brew info [email protected] shows them again.

PHP is installed but zsh still cannot find it

print -l $path

If /opt/homebrew/bin (Apple silicon) or /usr/local/bin (Intel) is not in the list, Homebrew's shell setup is not loaded. Add it to ~/.zprofile:

eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Then open a new tab. Editing the file does nothing to tabs that are already open. How PATH works in zsh on macOS explains which file zsh reads when, and why /usr/local/bin can win over /opt/homebrew/bin on a Mac that was migrated from Intel.

Herd, MAMP and other PHP bundles

Laravel Herd, MAMP and similar apps ship their own PHP binaries outside Homebrew's folders. If you use one, its php is only on PATH when the app's own folder is on it. Herd sets this up for zsh during installation (its folder is ~/Library/Application Support/Herd/bin), so open a new tab after installing it. For MAMP you add the folder of the PHP version you want, for example /Applications/MAMP/bin/php/<version>/bin. Pick one source of PHP. Two on PATH means php on the command line and PHP in your web server can be different versions, which shows up later as "extension not found" errors that make no sense.

After PHP works

composer and laravel are separate tools. If they fail next, see zsh: command not found: composer, which also covers Composer's global vendor/bin folder.