Fix You Don't Have Permission to Open the Application on Mac

The various applications on Mac have different purposes. For instance, you use the Music app to listen to your favorite songs, Safari to browse the desired websites, FaceTime to make video/audio calls to your loved ones, etc. But, several users have come across you don’t have permission to open the application on Mac issue. If it is also bothering you, read this article until the end to find and follow suitable solutions to fix this issue.

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Fix You Don’t Have Permission to Open the Application on Mac

To learn how to fix you don’t have permission to open the application Mac issue, read the methods discussed below.

Quick Answer

You will have to provide read and write access to the applications to fix the issue. It is how to do it:

1. Open the Applications folder using Finder.

2. Then, click on the Utilities option.

3. Now, select the Terminal option from the menu.

4. Drag the desired application in the Terminal window and drop it to enter the path.

5. Lastly, close the Terminal window and launch the desired application to which you want to provide access.

Method 1: Enable Sharing and Permissions

To learn how you can verify the Sharing and Permissions, follow the steps discussed below:

1. Navigate to the System Preferences app on your Mac.

2. Then, click on the Sharing option.

3. Select the File Sharing option and expand the Shared Folders.

4. Then, under the Users tab, select the Everyone option and set the Read & Write option.

Also Read: How to Open Applications Folder on Mac

Method 2: Change Recent Items to None

By decreasing the number of recent items, you may fix you don’t have permission to open the application Mac issue. Follow the steps given below:

1. First, go to the System Preferences app and click on the General option.

2. From the Recent Items field, select the None option.

Method 3: Provide Read/Write Access

If there are read/write restrictions for some application files, grant them permission by accessing the Utilities folder to open the Terminal app. To learn how you can do this, follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Open the Finder app on your Mac.

2. Then, click on the Applications folder.

3. Click on Utilities > Terminal.

4A. Then, enter the following command in the Terminal:

sudo chmod -R 755 <application file path>

Note: In <application file path>, type the full file path of that particular application.

4B. Or drag and drop the target application into the Terminal. So, the full file path will be entered.

5. Exit the Terminal app and launch the target application with was showing you don’t have permission to open the application Mac error.

Also Read: Top 20 Best Mac Clipboard Manager Apps

Method 4: Codesign App

You can codesign the app to resolve you don’t have permission to open the application on Mac issue.

1. Open the Applications folder.

2. Click on the Utilities folder to access the Terminal app.

3A. Enter the following command in the Terminal:

sudo codesign – force – deep – sign - <application file path>

3B. Or drag and drop the problematic application in the Terminal to get its full file path.

Note: If the codesign command is not working, the xtools might not be pre-installed on your Mac. If you wish to install it, type this command: xcode-select – install.

4. Then, launch the problematic application.

Method 5: Update macOS

To resolve you don’t have permission to open the application on Mac, you can try to update your macOS. When you install the latest software available, you can get rid of all the bugs and glitches that may be creating this problem.

Follow the steps mentioned below if you wish to learn how you can update your Mac:

1. First, go to System Preferences on your Mac.

2. Then, click on the Software Update > Upgrade Now option.

Method 6: Remove Quarantine Flag

To remove the quarantine flag so that you can resolve the issue, comply with the steps discussed below:

1. Navigate to the Applications > Utilities folder.

2. Then, launch the Terminal app.

3. Hereafter, enter the following command in the Terminal window:

sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine <application file path>

4. Lastly, open the problematic application.

Also Read: How to Force Quit Mac Applications With the Keyboard Shortcut

Method 7: Unpack Binaries Using UPX

To unpack the compressed binaries using UPX to fix the said issue, follow the steps given below:

1. Open the Terminal app on your device from the Utilities folder.

2. In the Terminal window, enter the following command to install Homebrew.

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. After that, enter the below-mentioned command to install UPX.

brew install upx

4. Next, right-click on the problematic application and choose the Show Package Contents option.

5. Navigate to Contents > Mac OS.

6. Consequently, enter the following command.

sudo upx –d

7. Drag and drop the application UNIX exe to Terminal and press on Return key.

Method 8: Reinstall Application

Another way to fix you don’t have permission to open the application on your Mac is by reinstalling the application again. To make yourself familiar with how you can do that, abide by the given steps:

1. Open the Finder app on your Mac.

2. Then, click on the Applications folder.

3. After that, drag and drop the problematic application that is causing the issue in the Trash that is located at the end of the Dock on your Mac device, as shown below.

4. Reinstall the application again.

Also Read: How to Delete Apps from MacBook

Pro Tip: Open Application Using Rosetta

You can also opt for this method to open an application when you don’t have permission. Read and follow the steps given below:

Note: If Rosetta is not pre-installed in your version of Mac, you can enter /usr/sbin/softwareupdate – install-rosetta – agree-to-license command in the Terminal window to install it.

1. Right-click on the problematic application from the Applications folder.

2. After that, click on the Get Info option.

3. Then, under the General tab, click on the Open using Rosetta option.

4. Next, double-click on the problematic application to open it.

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We hope that you learned about how to fix you don’t have permission to open the application on Mac issue. Feel free to reach out to us with your queries and suggestions via the comments section below. Also, let us know what topic you want to learn about in our next article.