There “you are not authorized to open the application“The error is common in macOS Big Sur. The error prevents you from opening third-party apps, while pre-installed apps work just fine.
This error can occur for several reasons other than insufficient authorization. Gatekeeper quarantining the app or a broken sign can also cause this particular error.
In this article, we will show you all the possible methods that you can use to resolve this error caused by various reasons.
How to fix “You are not authorized to open the application” error?
There are various methods that you can use to fix this particular error. So, go through all the fixes in this list to see which one works for you.
Allow read/write permission
While read/write access is enabled for most files by default, some application files may have this permission restricted for various reasons. In such cases, you will face this particular error. This usually happens in third-party application files.
Here is how you can grant them this permission:
- Select Apps from your dock.
- Go to Utilities and choose Terminal.
- Now enter the following command in the Terminal:
sudo chmod -R 755 <application file path>
(Inenter the full file path of this application.)
- If you don’t know how to do it, you can just drag and drop the app on the Terminal. This will enter its full file path.
- Go out Terminal and launch the application with the error.
Co-design the app
In mac OS, every app is signed either by Apple itself or by app developers using an Apple-issued Developer ID. It is used to verify the integrity of the data provided by the application.
The app’s coded design will read the app’s signature and determine its authenticity. However, if your application signature is faulty or broken, your system will not be able to read the signature.
In this case, you can force application code design through commands to solve this problem.
- Launch Terminal of the quay.
- In Terminalenter the command:
sudo codesign – force – deep – sign - <application file path>
- You can drag and drop the app into Terminal to get its full file path.
- Open the problematic app.
If the codesign command does not work, maybe xtools are not pre-installed on your device. To install it, you can run this command: xcode-select – install
Remove quarantine flag
Sometimes Gatekeeper will quarantine third-party apps downloaded from unknown sources to protect your computer. This will hamper your access to the application and may display this particular error message.
Follow the steps below to remove the quarantine flag from your app:
- Open Terminal using the methods above.
- Type the following command:
sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine <application file path>
- Drag and drop the app onto Terminal.
- Hurry Walk in.
- Launch the Malfunction app.
Update software
The “you don’t have permission to open the app” error was a common bug in macOS Big Sur. If this is also the cause of your problem, you can try updating your Mac software to fix this problem.
Additionally, software updates cover a wide variety of bug fixes and other optimization features for your Mac OS. If your system has encountered other issues resulting in this error, a software update will also help.
- Tap the apple menu and select System Preferences.
- Press on Software update and check for updates.
- If updates are available, click Update now.
Open in Rosetta
Mac computers have gone from different hardware like Intel to Apple silicon. However, applications designed for Intel-based Macs may not work on Apple Silicon Macs. To address this compatibility issue, Apple developed Rosetta, a binary translator that allows specific Mac applications to run on newer Macs.
However, if for some reason these types of applications cannot access Rosetta, you may get this particular error.
You can try manually enabling Rosetta to see if that fixes the problem:
- Right-click the problematic app in Finder.
- Select Obtain informations.
- In the General tab, select the tab Open with Rosetta option.
- Double click on the application to open it.
If Rosetta is not pre-installed in your version of Mac, you can run this command in Terminal to install it: /usr/sbin/softwareupdate – install-rosetta – agree-to-license
Unpack with UPX
If your application contains binaries compressed using UPX, your Mac computer may not be able to open the application correctly. In this case, you will need to unzip the binaries compressed using UPX.
To do this, you can install UPX from Homebrew, an open-source software that helps install other software on Mac.
Follow the steps below to do so:
- Open Terminal using the above method.
- Enter the following command to install home brew:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
- Enter the following command to install UPX:
brew install upx
- Right-click the problematic app and select Show package contents.
- Go to Contents > macOS.
- Type the command
sudo upx -d
then drag and drop the UNIX application exe at Terminal. - Hurry Walk in.
Reinstall the app
If the above methods don’t work, you can try reinstalling the app. It will erase all application files, including corrupt or problematic ones, and install a fresh working copy.
Here’s how:
- Launch the Finder from the dock.
- Go to the Apps case.
- Drag and drop your problematic app onto the Trash icon at dock.
- In Searcherclick on the Empty button in the upper right corner.
- Install it application Again.