App can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer

Question

I installed Mac OS X Mavericks (10.9) yesterday and since then I am not able to start my Eclipse. I am attaching a screenshot of the message I see.

Is there a workaround for this?

Enter image description here

I found a solution in Fix the “App can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer” Error in Mac OS X.

Related: *[Installing Java on OS X 10.9 (Mavericks)](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19533528)* — Peter Mortensen, Nov 03 '13 at 18:39
Check this out for step by step instructions http://y2u.be/heUv6RtFtrI — Yasitha Waduge, Nov 09 '13 at 06:09
This question appears to be off-topic because it is about Mac Applications and not programming. It would be better suited on http://apple.stackexchange.com/ — Steve Robbins, Dec 26 '13 at 05:51
@Steve. Eclipse has nothing to do with programming? That's news to me. Installing the tools of the trade seem to me a viable question for Stack Overflow. I'm more concerned about the OP not selecting a correct answer (nudge, aghem, cough Chandan). — Andrew S, Apr 20 '14 at 18:48
See the **xattr alternative** below for **locked down security settings** — Luke, Oct 16 '14 at 14:41

trojanfoe · Answer 1 · 2013-11-11T16:45:00.153

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It's because of the Security options.

Go to System Preferences... > Security & Privacy and there should be a button saying Open Anyway, under the General tab.

You can avoid doing this by changing the options under Allow apps downloaded from:, however I would recommend keeping it at the default Mac App Store and identified developers.

edited Nov 11 '13 at 16:45

answered Oct 23 '13 at 20:09

trojanfoe

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I don't think this is new in Mavericks. – Stephan Dollberg Oct 23 '13 at 20:18
@bamboon You are right; I must have lowered my security level ages ago and forgotten about it. I will update my answer. – trojanfoe Oct 23 '13 at 20:19
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Actually, we can right click on Eclipse icon and choose Open without change Security Policy. Follow here: http://osxdaily.com/2012/07/27/app-cant-be-opened-because-it-is-from-an-unidentified-developer/ – KimKha Oct 25 '13 at 04:27
In 10.8.5, the option to select from the 'Allow applications downloaded from:' set of radio buttons is: 'Anywhere' – Mark Roper Nov 11 '13 at 16:36
The "Control-click/Open" method is much safer. This opens your system to any app from wherever. Do not surrender this much control! – mpemburn Mar 18 '15 at 12:43
@mpemburn I don't understand what you mean; I recommend leaving the security at the default "Mac App Store and identified developers". – trojanfoe Mar 18 '15 at 13:44
There's no option for 'Open Anyway' in Yosemite but you can select 'Open All'. If the option is greyed out click the lock icon on the bottom right first and authenticate with your login password. – fIwJlxSzApHEZIl Apr 06 '15 at 17:52

score 123 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 24 '13 at 17:53

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An easier way to open a document from an unidentified developer, if you know it's safe, is to control-click on the file icon and then select "Open." You will then be given the option of opening it regardless of its unidentified source.

answered Oct 24 '13 at 17:53

Shlensky

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score 33 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 14 '13 at 22:17

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Right-click (or control-click) the application in question and choose "Open"

answered Nov 14 '13 at 22:17

Abdala Cerqueira

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Daniel K. · Answer 4 · 2019-02-24T20:38:12.633

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In terminal type the command:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine [file path here]

Once you click enter it will no longer have that problem. Its annoying that apple adds a quarantine to files automatically. I do not know how to turn this off but there probably is a way...

edited Feb 24 '19 at 20:38

answered Jul 14 '15 at 01:06

Daniel K.

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Thank you! This solved a problem with two apps that would get blocked at startup (running macOS Sierra). One (AwakenHelper) was saying "the identity of the developer cannot be confirmed." The other was saying "Tonido.app is damaged and can't be opened." – Zade Mar 14 '17 at 08:03

score 20 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

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You can also use the xattr command as in Stack Overflow question How do I remove the "extended attributes" on a file in Mac OS X?.

Just remove the com.apple.quarantine attribute. It works even if you don't have an administrator account, which can be a plus. After that, the app isn't considered "downloaded" and is therefore not blocked.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

Community

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answered Mar 17 '14 at 22:11

Skylar Ittner

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This works if you have locked down security preferences e.g. on an **Enterprise Mac**. cd /Applications/eclipse/ xattr -d com.apple.quarantine Eclipse.app – Luke Oct 16 '14 at 13:44

score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 17 '14 at 01:03

It is prohibiting the opening of Eclipse app because it was not registered with Apple by an identified developer. This is a security feature, however, you can override the security setting and open the app by doing the following:

Locate the Eclipse.app (eclipse/Eclipse.app) in Finder. (Make sure you use Finder so that you can perform the subsequent steps.)
Press the Control key and then click the Eclipse.app icon.
Choose Open from the shortcut menu.
Click the Open button when the alert window appears.

The last step will add an exception for Eclipse to your security settings and now you will be able to open it without any warnings.

Note, these steps work for other *.app apps that may encounter the same issue.

score 8 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 06 '17 at 10:44

you can modify the gatekeeper settings by running the following command

To disable to allow apps from anywhere to be installed use the following command in terminal ::

sudo spctl --master-disable

To re-enable use the following command

sudo spctl --master-enable

score 5 · Answer 8 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

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I had the same problem, Eclipse would not start. Found this link and it worked like a charm:

Can't click Menu Bar Items in Eclipse

Java is messed-up on Maverick, need to download and install from here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

Community

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answered Oct 24 '13 at 04:46

Ray

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score 4 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 21 '13 at 14:30

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Control Click the application in the Applications folder, not lauchpad. Choose open and then you get an options to actually open it.

answered Dec 21 '13 at 14:30

Mark

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score 3 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 14 '15 at 01:18

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Right click > Open.

Or, you can go into System Preferences, Security & Privacy, and set the restrictions on opening apps there.

answered Jul 14 '15 at 01:18

jwuki

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score 3 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 23 '19 at 16:08

I had got the same error. Because of security reasons, I could not see option for allowing Apps downloaded from Anywhere in System preference-> Security Tab.

I removed the extended attribute from Zip file by below command.

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine [Zip file path]

And then got below error:- org.eclipse.e4.core.di.InjectionException: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/annotation/PostConstruct

Resolved it by uninstalling all different versions of java and installed just 1.8.0_231.

Worked finally.

score 3 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 20 '21 at 15:34

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In your terminal, simply run

sudo spctl --master-disable

in order to allow apps be downloaded from any developer

answered Apr 20 '21 at 15:34

Giorgos Myrianthous

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This just repeats cryptonkid's answer from 2017, without the instruction for how to turn it back on again. Permanently disabling this security feature is obviously a risk many users will not be prepared to take. – tripleee Dec 28 '22 at 09:11

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered Sep 11 '17 at 06:33

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Open terminal, go to extracted folder of eclipse and run the following command:

./eclipse -clean

answered Sep 11 '17 at 06:33

Gaurab Kumar

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score 2 · Answer 14 · answered Dec 20 '18 at 02:34

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Terminal type:

Last login: Thu Dec 20 08:28:43 on console
 ~  sudo spctl --master-disable
Password:
 ~  spctl --status
assessments disabled
 ~ 

System Preferences->Security & Privacy

answered Dec 20 '18 at 02:34

Giang

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score 0 · Answer 15 · edited Aug 06 '23 at 01:13

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On MacOS Ventura 13.5, after running an app which is being blocked, it will show up in the Privacy & Security section in preferences, where you can press on 'Allow Anyway' to disable it.

MacOS System Preferences (Privacy & Security)

edited Aug 06 '23 at 01:13

Jeremy Caney

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answered Jul 31 '23 at 08:41

Walter

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While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - [From Review](/review/late-answers/34770995) – Ram Chander Aug 05 '23 at 13:35

Karishma Chaudhary · Answer 16 · 2018-12-04T10:28:39.163

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Open Terminal, Go to the eclipse folder, Run ./eclipse

edited Dec 04 '18 at 10:28

answered Aug 25 '18 at 12:49

Karishma Chaudhary

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score -2 · Answer 17 · edited Jul 19 '14 at 21:27

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Try looking into Gatekeeper. I am not sure of too much Mac stuff, but I heard that you can enable it in there.

edited Jul 19 '14 at 21:27

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 22 '14 at 16:06

jokajinx

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App can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer

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