Mac Os App Damaged Cannot Be Opened

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The safest place to get apps for your Mac is the App Store. Apple reviews each app in the App Store before it’s accepted and signs it to ensure that it hasn’t been tampered with or altered. If there’s ever a problem with an app, Apple can quickly remove it from the store.

If you download and install apps from the internet or directly from a developer, macOS continues to protect your Mac. When you install Mac apps, plug-ins, and installer packages from outside the App Store, macOS checks the Developer ID signature to verify that the software is from an identified developer and that it has not been altered. By default, macOS Catalina also requires software to be notarized, so you can be confident that the software you run on your Mac doesn't contain known malware. Before opening downloaded software for the first time, macOS requests your approval to make sure you aren’t misled into running software you didn’t expect.

What you shuld do is get an ssd run a mac os on it lets say high Sierra then on a clean mac that has no os on it connect the ssd and boot frm there then change date and time to after go to disk utility clean the drive of the mac with without os l mean erase to apfs format then after that mak sure that the mojave full dmg is on the. On Sierra (macos 10.12.1), which doesn't offer the 'Allow downloaded from Anywhere' option, I am getting the same message about '“S4A.app” is damaged and can’t be opened. Experiencing a problem with several apps after installing macOS Catalina. When the app is downloaded from the internet I get the error: 'APP NAME' is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the trash. Any workarounds to bypass macOS gatekeeper for specific apps?


Running software that hasn’t been signed and notarized may expose your computer and personal information to malware that can harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.

View the app security settings on your Mac

By default, the security and privacy preferences of your Mac are set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers. For additional security, you can chose to allow only apps from the App Store.

In System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click General. Click the lock and enter your password to make changes. Select App Store under the header “Allow apps downloaded from.”

Open a developer-signed or notarized app

If your Mac is set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers, the first time that you launch a new app, your Mac asks if you’re sure you want to open it.

An app that has been notarized by Apple indicates that Apple checked it for malicious software and none was detected:

Prior to macOS Catalina, opening an app that hasn't been notarized shows a yellow warning icon and asks if you're sure you want to open it:

If you see a warning message and can’t install an app

If you have set your Mac to allow apps only from the App Store and you try to install an app from elsewhere, your Mac will say that the app can't be opened because it was not downloaded from the App Store.*

If your Mac is set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers, and you try to install an app that isn’t signed by an identified developer or—in macOS Catalina—notarized by Apple, you also see a warning that the app cannot be opened.

Mac Os App Damaged Cannot Be Opened

If you see this warning, it means that the app was not notarized, and Apple could not scan the app for known malicious software.

You may want to look for an updated version of the app in the App Store or look for an alternative app.

If macOS detects a malicious app

If macOS detects that an app has malicious content, it will notify you when you try to open it and ask you to move it to the Trash.

How to open an app that hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer

Running software that hasn’t been signed and notarized may expose your computer and personal information to malware that can harm your Mac or compromise your privacy. If you’re certain that an app you want to install is from a trustworthy source and hasn’t been tampered with, you can temporarily override your Mac security settings to open it.

In macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave, when an app fails to install because it hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer, it will appear in System Preferences > Security & Privacy, under the General tab. Click Open Anyway to confirm your intent to open or install the app.

The warning prompt reappears, and you can click Open.*

The app is now saved as an exception to your security settings, and you can open it in the future by double-clicking it, just as you can any authorized app.

Mac Os App Damaged Cannot Be Opened As A

*If you're prompted to open Finder: control-click the app in Finder, choose Open from the menu, and then click Open in the dialog that appears. Enter your admin name and password to open the app.

Macs are a powerful machine. Unlike Windows, they just work. You turn it ON, do your work and then turn it OFF. However, today while I was installing an OpenVPN client on my iMac (macOS Sierra Version 10.12.6) I got a weird error saying.

You can’t open the application ‘app name’ because it may be damaged or incomplete

The first thought was to restart the device, and when I did that, the thing went south. Now, I was not able to open any app even the system app was not working. After a bit of Google search, I came across this forum which recommends restarting the Mac to safe mode and doing all kind of geeky stuff. Now, I usually like troubleshooting software problem but not today. I had a deadline.

After hours of Google search, I came across this answer on Apple forum by the user Linc Davis and surprising it worked. And the best part is, it only takes 2 minutes to fix everything. However, my experience was a little bit different from what he had written so, I decided to rewrite this issue.

Fixed: You can’t open the application because it may be damaged or incomplete

Note: Before we begin, please back up all data to an external hard drive. The following workaround is just one solution that worked for me and some other people, there is no guarantee that it’ll work for you. So proceed at your own risk. Once done, follow the steps.

1. Click on the finder icon and then go to the top menu bar. Click on Window > Go to Folder

2. Copy paste or manually type the following folder location.

/var/folders

3. A new folder will pop open, Inside that you’ll see several subfolders, each with a two-character name like ‘4v, hr, tv, zz‘ etc. This could be same or different for you.

Mac App Can't Be Opened

Now according to the original poster, you need to drag all the subfolders except the one named “zz” to the Trash. Don’t delete the subfolder named “zz”. You’ll be prompted for your administrator login credentials.

Mac Os Must Have Apps

However, in my case, I was not able to delete any folder except “hr”, and even that reappear once I delete it. But it still fixed the problem. I don’t know how, but just after that, I was able to open all the apps again.

App Not Opening On Mac

4. Restart the computer and this will fix the messed up icons. You might have to log in to your browser and all the saved account once again, but that should be much of an issue, compared to what you just saw now.

Mac Os App Damaged Cannot Be Opened Together

Overall, I still not sure, what was the issue (might have to do with some important files getting corrupt) and how this workaround fixed this issue. But thankfully it saved me the entire of tedious work and I hope it works for you as well. Again, all credits go to the user Linc Davis.