Apr 15, 2020  1. Update macOS and all your apps. A lot of users experienced similar problems to this when Apple released macOS High Sierra in 2017. Eventually, Apple released a patch update to fix this issue. Hopefully the same will happen for macOS Catalina. Ensure your Mac and all your apps.

Since the launch of macOS Sierra in 2016, Apple has tightened up the Gatekeeper security. One very visible change thanks to this is the option to allow apps from ‘unidentified developers’ missing from settings. This tight security causes some apps downloaded from sources other than App Store to show ‘this app is damaged’ or ‘this app can’t be opened because it’s from an unidentified developer’ message.

In previous versions of Mac OS X (now simply macOS), there used to be three options under Settings > Security & Privacy > General. The “Allow apps downloaded from:” area had options, namely: App Store, App store and identified developers, and Anywhere. You could simply change this to ‘Anywhere’ and run any app on your Mac. In macOS versions since Sierra, Apple no longer provides this option in Settings by default. But there’s still a way to bypass Gatekeeper, add ‘Anywhere’ option back to Settings, and solve ‘this app is damaged’ error.

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Now, ‘This App Is Damaged’ message is not really an ‘error.’ It’s a ‘security feature’ designed to keep your Mac from running unauthorised apps that can possibly contain malware. Basically Apple wants to ‘allow’ apps from App Store only. And it’s worth mentioning that you should only run third-party apps from developers you trust. If the app you wish to use isn’t available on App Store (like VLC media player and Skype), proceed with caution and only download it from the official website of that app.

How to Solve ‘This App Is Damaged’ Error in macOS

To solve ‘this app is damaged’ error, simply open Terminal from Launchpad and enter the following command.

sudo spctl --master-disable

Enter your password and you’re done. Note that there are two (2) dashes before master. You might miss that while copy/pasting. So I will leave a screenshot below. I would suggest you type the command manually.

Also note that there is no output or message after you successfully execute the command. Open Settings and verify that the Anywhere option is now visible as shown below.

After this, you can install and run any app that gave you error and now you’d be asked if you wanted to run that app. Click Open and the app should load just fine — like it’s supposed to.

Reverting the Gatekeeper Settings

Once you disable Gatekeeper and run app(s) you want, you should change the security settings back to normal. Leaving Gatekeeper security turned off leaves the ‘gate’ open for other unauthorized apps as well and it’s recommended that you leave Gatekeeper on.

To enable Gatekeeper again, enter the following command (notice two dashes before ‘master’).

sudo spctl --master-enable

That’s it. You’ve reverted to default security settings. After this, you will still be able to run the app(s) that previously gave you error. If you install a new app after turning on Gatekeeper, you will have to turn it off again in order to run the new app(s).

Note that you should run all those apps which you couldn’t run at least once after disabling Gatekeeper, otherwise you won’t be able to run them after enabling it again.

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That’s it folks. You were reading How to Solve ‘This App Is Damaged’ Error in macOS on techstuffer.com. I hope you found this tutorial worth your time and I’d like to thank you for reading.

While installing Adobe Creative Cloud applications on macOS 10.12, you encounter one of the following errors:

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• The installation cannot continue as the installer file may be damaged. Download the installer file again.
• Installer failed to initialize. This could be due to a missing file. Please download Adobe Support Advisor to detect the problem.

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These errors occur when you install Creative Cloud applications using local install packages. The recommendation is to install the applications through the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop app. The Creative Cloud desktop app has been updated and allows the successful installation of current and previous versions of Creative Cloud applications. For complete details regarding the installation process, see Download your Creative Cloud apps.

If you need to install using an offline install package, complete the following steps to begin the installation process.

Mount the disk image file for the Creative Cloud application.

Right-click Install.app and select Open Package Contents from the context menu.

A terminal window opens and initializes the installer. You are given the option to install in trial mode, use a serial number, or verify a Creative Cloud membership.