Show Mac Allow any source to solve the problem of opening corrupted

How to fix Mac app “damaged” or “unable to identify developer” errors

When downloading and opening an app on a Mac, you often encounter the following error message:

• “XXX is damaged and cannot be opened”
• “XXX cannot be opened because the developer’s identity cannot be confirmed”

If you encounter these problems, you can solve them by following the steps below:

Step 1: Enable “Any Source” downloads

1. Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner to open System Preferences
2. Click on the “Security and Privacy”
3. Select the “General” option on the left (If it is a system 13 or above, there will be an option at the bottom to allow applications downloaded from the following locations.)
4. Find “Allow apps downloaded from”
5. Click “Any Source” in the options (if there is no option for any source, see step 2)

This allows the app to be downloaded and opened from anywhere, temporarily resolving the issue.

Step 2: Completely turn off verification (terminal command)

If step 1 doesn’t work, you also need to completely disable application verification:

1. Click the Finder’s “Go” menu
2. Select the “Utilities” item
3. Open the Terminal program
4. Enter the command in the terminal window and press Enter to execute:sudo spctl --master-disable
5. Enter the computer login password and press Enter to confirm

Step 3: Still open the app

If you find that the application still does not open, or you have done the above two steps and still find that some programs cannot be opened after downloading, you need to go to the Security & Privacy window again. Under the “Allow applications downloaded from the following locations” mentioned in step 1, you will find that Mac has blocked the application. Click Open the app anyway to open it.

This will completely disable the Mac’s app verification mechanism and resolve the issue completely.

Precautions

• Disabling verification will reduce security, so use it only when necessary.
• Enabling “Any source” requires closing it after downloading each app to prevent security risks

Follow the above steps to successfully open the downloaded application. If the problem persists, please recheck the steps.

The sudo spctl –master-disable command is explained as follows:

sudo – execute commands with administrator privileges

spctl – A command-line tool for managing and controlling macOS system security policies.

–master-disable – disables the SIP (System Integrity Protection) mechanism to restrict installed software

The Gatekeeper feature is enabled by default in macOS to check the source and code signature of the software to prevent malicious programs from running.

Using sudo spctl –master-disable you can completely disable these security checks, allowing the system to run any unverified code and applications.

Specifically, this command will:

• Disable checking of download sources, allowing apps to be installed from anywhere
• Disable code signature verification to allow unsigned applications to be opened
• Bypass the Quarantine tag check and open the marked application directly

Disabling these security mechanisms will reduce system security and pose a security risk. This command requires an administrator password to run.

After executing this command, you need to restart the computer for it to take effect. If you want to re-enable security checks, you can use the sudo spctl –master-enable command.

It is recommended that you use this command only when necessary and re-enable security features as soon as possible after use.