--- title: Zsh: glob case-insensitively with the (#i) glob flag and... description: Zsh globs are case-sensitive by default, even on macOS. The '(#i)' glob flag makes the rest of a pattern case-insensitive, so '*.(#i)jpg' matches 'CAT.JPG' and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/zsh-glob-case-insensitively-with-the-i-glob-flag-and-the-no-case-glob-option-ttfimbnfh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Zsh: glob case-insensitively with the (#i) glob flag and the no_case_glob option | daily.dev og:description: Zsh globs are case-sensitive by default, even on macOS. The '(#i)' glob flag makes the rest of a pattern case-insensitive, so '*.(#i)jpg' matches 'CAT.JPG' and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/zsh-glob-case-insensitively-with-the-i-glob-flag-and-the-no-case-glob-option-ttfimbnfh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/TTfimbnfH.png og:image:alt: Zsh: glob case-insensitively with the (#i) glob flag and the no_case_glob option og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Zsh: glob case-insensitively with the (#i) glob flag and the no_case_glob option **[Adam Johnson](https://daily.dev/sources/adamj)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Zsh globs are case-sensitive by default, even on macOS. The '(#i)' glob flag makes the rest of a pattern case-insensitive, so '*.(#i)jpg' matches 'CAT.JPG' and 'dog.Jpg' as well as 'beach.jpg'. It requires the 'extended_glob' option, set with 'setopt extended_glob' in '~/.zshrc'. For global case-insensitivity, 'setopt no_case_glob' makes all globs ignore case, and 'setopt case_paths' keeps directory names case-sensitive. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I make a Zsh glob pattern match files regardless of case? Use the '(#i)' glob flag before the pattern, such as '*.(#i)jpg', which makes the rest of the pattern case-insensitive so it matches 'beach.jpg', 'CAT.JPG', and 'dog.Jpg'. This flag requires the 'extended_glob' option to be enabled first, via 'setopt extended_glob' in the Zsh config file, otherwise Zsh treats '(#i)' as a literal pattern and reports no matches found. _Configuring shell defaults like this is exactly the kind of tip developers track on daily.dev._ ### Why are my Zsh globs case-sensitive even though my Mac's filesystem is case-insensitive? Zsh globs are case-sensitive by default regardless of the underlying filesystem's case sensitivity, so '*.jpg' will not match 'CAT.JPG' on macOS even though the filesystem itself treats those names as equivalent. This is the same default behavior Bash uses. Enable 'setopt no_case_glob' to make all globs case-insensitive globally instead of relying on filesystem behavior. _Shell quirks like this trip up a lot of devs; daily.dev surfaces fixes before they waste your afternoon._ ### How do I make all Zsh globs case-insensitive without adding a flag to every pattern? Add 'setopt no_case_glob' to your '~/.zshrc' file, which makes every glob pattern case-insensitive by default, so '*.jpg' matches 'CAT.JPG' without needing the '(#i)' flag. Note this also makes directory names in the glob path case-insensitive, so 'photos/*.jpg' would also match files inside 'Photos/'. Add 'setopt case_paths' alongside it if you want directory names to remain case-sensitive while filenames stay case-insensitive. _Developers tuning their dotfiles often compare shell options like these on daily.dev before committing to a config._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Zsh: uncover hidden files in globs with \(D\)](https://daily.dev/posts/zsh-uncover-hidden-files-in-globs-with-d--ltryb2zwq) · Adam Johnson · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Zsh: tab complete glob qualifiers](https://daily.dev/posts/zsh-tab-complete-glob-qualifiers-trzdr8umc) · Adam Johnson · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [named globs with curl](https://daily.dev/posts/named-globs-with-curl-asgbvqvrj) · daniel.haxx.se · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [Glob patterns explained \(and why .gitignore behaves that way\)](https://daily.dev/posts/glob-patterns-explained-and-why-gitignore-behaves-that-way--dz2lmsm4g) · Flavio Copes · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Parse Wildcard Arguments in Bash — Nick Janetakis](https://daily.dev/posts/parse-wildcard-arguments-in-bash-nick-janetakis-g9vroomhd) · Nick Janetakis · 2 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#shell](https://daily.dev/tags/shell), [#bash](https://daily.dev/tags/bash) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/zsh-glob-case-insensitively-with-the-i-glob-flag-and-the-no-case-glob-option-ttfimbnfh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Zsh: glob case-insensitively with the (#i) glob flag and the no_case_glob option","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/zsh-glob-case-insensitively-with-the-i-glob-flag-and-the-no-case-glob-option-ttfimbnfh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/zsh-glob-case-insensitively-with-the-i-glob-flag-and-the-no-case-glob-option-ttfimbnfh"},"datePublished":"2026-10-31T22:46:21.048Z","dateModified":"2026-10-31T22:46:46.480Z","description":"Zsh globs are case-sensitive by default, even on macOS. 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This flag requires the 'extended_glob' option to be enabled first, via 'setopt extended_glob' in the Zsh config file, otherwise Zsh treats '(#i)' as a literal pattern and reports no matches found. Configuring shell defaults like this is exactly the kind of tip developers track on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why are my Zsh globs case-sensitive even though my Mac's filesystem is case-insensitive?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Zsh globs are case-sensitive by default regardless of the underlying filesystem's case sensitivity, so '*.jpg' will not match 'CAT.JPG' on macOS even though the filesystem itself treats those names as equivalent. This is the same default behavior Bash uses. Enable 'setopt no_case_glob' to make all globs case-insensitive globally instead of relying on filesystem behavior. 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