How to open a newly downloaded Mac app the first time

Install the app

1. Download the .dmg from your Gumroad receipt (View content) or the app's page. It goes to your Downloads folder.
2. Double-click the .dmg. A window opens showing the app, an arrow and the Applications folder.
3. Drag the app onto the Applications folder.
4. Eject the disk image: click the eject button next to it in the Finder sidebar, or drag it to the Trash. You can then delete the .dmg file.

Open it the first time

1. Open the app from your Applications folder (or press Command-Space, type its name and press Return).
2. macOS 26 shows: “App” is an app downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it? Below that it says: Apple checked it for malicious software and none was detected.
3. Click Open. From now on it opens like any other app.
4. Menu bar apps don't show a window or a Dock icon: look for the app's icon at the top right of the screen.
5. If the app needs a permission (Screen Recording or Accessibility, for example), it explains why first. macOS then asks you to allow it in System Settings › Privacy & Security.

If your Mac won't open it

1. "Apple could not verify…" or "Apple cannot check it for malicious software" means macOS couldn't confirm the app is notarized. Our apps are signed and notarized, so this shouldn't happen with a copy from our Gumroad page. Download it again from your receipt, and email us if it happens again.
2. If you're sure an app is from a trustworthy source, you can open it anyway: open System Settings, click Privacy & Security, scroll down to Security and click Open Anyway. The button is there for about an hour after you try to open the app. Enter your password, then click Open in the next message.
3. "The app is damaged and can't be opened" means the download was broken or changed. Delete it and download it again from your receipt.
4. If Privacy & Security is set to allow apps only from the App Store, change it to App Store and identified developers.

Tips

• Run the app from Applications, not from the disk image window. Running it from the disk image can stop it from saving its settings and installing updates.
• Updates arrive inside the app (Check for Updates), already notarized, so you won't see the first-open message again.
• To remove an app, quit it and drag it from Applications to the Trash.

Questions