Downloaded Apps Won’t Open

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It seems Apple is increasingly more cautious in preventing certain downloaded applications from opening in the latest versions of their OS.

 

In the Privacy and Security panel of the System Settings there is now no longer an option to allow applications from anywhere other than the App Store or identified developers. In previous OS versions there was at least an option to override this, by selecting Allow apps from Anywhere, but this has now been removed.

 

Attempting to open an application which fails the verification process with invoke an error. However there are a couple of ways to get around this.

 

If the error message tells you it can’t be opened because it was not downloaded from the App store it can still be fixed by clicking ok and going to the Privacy and Security panel of the System Settings and there will then be an option there to allow the application. As there is now no global setting this has to be done for every application that fails the verification process

 

With some applications the error message is saying the it is damaged and should be deleted. This means the app has been quarantined by the system having failed verification. Most of the time there is nothing wrong with it at all, and even downloading again makes no difference.
Fortunately this too can be fixed by locating Developer Tools in the Privacy and Security section of System Settings and clicking the + sign under the Terminal icon and navigating to the application.

 

Finally as a last resort the file could be fixed using the Terminal. This is a little trickier and involves using the Terminal located in Utilities to release it from quarantine.

 

If all that fails then it is likely that the application is indeed damaged or for some other reason not able to be opened. In which case it will have to be downloaded again or an alternative found.

 

Here are some useful links on this topic:

You Tube:
How To Fix Mac “App can’t be opened because it was not downloaded from the App Store” Error:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFVshgRs-tE)

Apple ToolBox
Fix: App Is Damaged and Cannot Be Opened on Mac:
(https://appletoolbox.com/app-is-damaged-cannot-be-opened-mac/)

How-To Geek:
How to Fix “App Is Damaged and Can’t Be Opened” on Mac:
(https://www.howtogeek.com/803598/app-is-damaged-and-cant-be-opened/)