Using CiteSpace on Mac

Refresh the .citespace directory on Mac
If you have installed an earlier version of CiteSpace, you might need to refresh the .citespace directory so that CiteSpace can have a clean start. For example, if CiteSpace cannot load projects you have created with earlier versions of CiteSpace, you may need to follow the refresh steps. The general idea is the same regardless on Windows or Mac.
I am borrowing my son's Mac so I will use his username stevenchen as an example. I will use a Terminal window to locate the .citespace directory and remove it along with any files and subdirectories in it. If you are not familiar with Mac, like me, you can use Launchpad and search for Terminal. Once you open up a Terminal window, you would land in the home directory associated with your username, e.g. /Users/stevenchen. You can verify this with the command pwd. Usually, .citespace would be hidden from your listing if you use ls only. Use the following command instead:
ls -la .citespace
If it turns out that you do not have a .citespace directory in your home directory, then you can skip the removal steps and start CiteSpace directly.
To remove the .citespace directory, use the following command. Don't worry, CiteSpace will automatically generate a new .citespace with the latest files.
rm -R .citespace
Start CiteSpace on Mac
Suppose you have donwloaded the 7z file and unpacked it under your downloads directory, e.g. /Users/stevenchen/downloads/5.3.R4.8.31.2018, you can enter the following command in the Termainal window to launch CiteSpace:
sh StartCiteSpace_Mac.sh
Follow the prompt, CiteSpace will start to configure two demo projects for you to get started:
Demo 1: Terrorism (1996-2003)
Demo 2: Scientometrics (1980-2016)