How to fix "macOS cannot verify that this app is free of malware" – Android Authority

There are lots of random errors in macOS. One of them is the inability to verify that an application is free from malware. This is quite a common problem, especially when you download apps from websites instead of the Mac Store. Luckily, it’s not terribly difficult to fix, and we’ll explain more about the error, what it means, and when to take it seriously. Here’s how to fix this problem when macOS can’t verify that this app is malware-free.

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Every Mac device has something called Gatekeeper installed. Gatekeeper is a security technology that scans and analyzes any application you intend to install on your Mac. You can actually tweak the Gatekeeper settings a bit by going to System Preferencesthen Privacy and Securitythen clicking on the General tongue.

Either way, when you see this error, that’s exactly what it says. The software you are trying to install cannot be verified by Gatekeeper, so Gatekeeper cannot promise you that the application does not contain malware. This is meant to be a warning more than an error, and it simply means that the developer has not had their app notarized by Apple.

This is a fairly common problem with third-party apps and especially standalone apps. The warning does not necessarily mean that the file is actually dangerous, it just means that the application has never been reviewed by Apple. It will be up to you whether you trust the developer enough to ignore the warning and continue with the installation.

How to Fix “macOS cannot verify that this app is free from malware”

It is not difficult to bypass the verification warning. This should work for all apps on modern macOS.

• Open Searcher and access the Apps case.
• Once there, find the app you want to open. Click on it using command + click Where double click the trackpad if you’re using a Macbook.
• Faucet Open.
• You will get another warning box saying macOS cannot verify the developer. This time, however, there is a Open button in the window. Click on it.
• The app should open normally.

During our tests, we found that it is enough to open the application a second time from the Launching ramp also gave you a Open prompt, but this may be a newer feature. The above steps should work for the most part.

Bypass the warning with Terminal

As with most issues, you can bypass Gatekeeper with a simple Terminal command. However, the command is quite powerful and disabling Gatekeeper can have negative effects. We recommend using this method only if you re-enable Gatekeeper later.

• Open Launching ramp and seek Terminal.
• Once the terminal is open, type sudo spctl –master-disable and press enter.
• Enter your password and press Enter again.
• You may need to restart your Mac before this works, but it should work.
• Pro tip – When you’re done, go back to Terminal and type the same command as above, but replace disable with enable and press enter. Enter your password and press Enter. This will re-enable Gatekeeper to protect your Mac.

This should work in scenarios where the official method doesn’t work. Again, be sure to re-enable Gatekeeper, as it is an invaluable security tool on your Mac.

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