The macOS dictionary app cannot add new build in dictionaries

For now, you can simply go to

/System/Library/AssetsV2/PreinstalledAssetsV2/InstallWithOs/com_apple_MobileAsset_DictionaryServices_dictionaryOSX

Find the dictionary you need, and delete the corresponding folder.

Then, reopen the dictionary app and choose the language.

The app will automatically re-download all the stuff you need.

I tried to remove all things in folder

/Users/<user>/Library/Dictionaries

And boom, everything worked :)

It sounds like everyone having this problem is using the new 16" MacBook Pro. I have seen other people on the Developer forums report problems with this machine and Apple services.

Apparently, this machine has a special build of Catalina and that is causing problems with the Apple Dictionary service. Check System Preferences > Software Update and see if you have an update available, as described here: https://mrmacintosh.com/2019-16-macbook-pro-catalina-10-15-1-supplemental-update-19b2106/

That may fix the problem. If not, the next build of macOS may do it. Please use the Feedback Assistant app to file bug reports on this issue.

Hello Hahaha666,

Thanks for the post. I understand you're unable to modify the preferences for the Dictionary app on your Mac.

For confirmation, you're able to check the boxes in question, but they seem to uncheck shortly after, correct?

Does it help if you click Apple menu () > Restart and try again?

If not, try creating a temporary administrator account on your Mac. Then, log in there to see if you can replicate the issue. This will tell you if it's system-wide or user-specific: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Once you've tested, reply back with the results to see if the community can offer more guidance.

Have a good one.

Hello. I have had the same problem. But with macOS 10.15.3 the problem is solved. Greetings.

In my case, upgrading to macOS Catalina 10.15.3 solves the issue

Confirm 10.15.3 fixed this.

If that Dictionary was compiled as a 32-bit bundle, then it would have to be recompiled as a 64-bit dictionary bundle to work on Catalina. The dates of the dictionary are quite old, and raise that suspicion.

What version of OS X/macOS were you using on that 15 inch MBP when you could check that dictonary box?

My 16MBP is fully up-to-date (on build 19B2106).

I was digging into the Console logs a bit and found several errors for failed downloads of different dictionaries. Some dictionaries do seem to download, others don't, so it seems like a problem on the server side.

Example errors:

Error in downloading associated linguistic data (lang:(
    pt,
    en
)):Error Domain=ASError Code=22 "Unable to copy asset information from https://mesu.apple.com/assets/macos/ for asset type com.apple.MobileAsset.LinguisticData" UserInfo={NSDescription=Unable to copy asset information from https://mesu.apple.com/assets/macos/ for asset type com.apple.MobileAsset.LinguisticData}

DictionaryApp: Start download com.apple.dictionary.OxfordSpanish
DictionaryApp: Download 'com.apple.dictionary.OxfordSpanish' failed with result code (29)

DictionaryApp: Start download com.apple.dictionary.pt-en.oup
DictionaryApp: Download 'com.apple.dictionary.pt-en.oup' failed with result code (29)

I had to erase the hard drive, install clean 10.15.5, and used migration assistant to restore from my time machine backup. Now the dictionary is fixed.

Got an update for my support case.. Apple Engineering is aware of the problem and it will be fixed in next Catalina release, no ETA or official workarounds are currently available, unfortunately.

I'm also having this issue. I've made a bug report to Apple via https://feedbackassistant.apple.com

If you're also having this issue, please also make a bug report that links back to this thread. The more reports Apple gets about it, the faster this will get fixed.

I found that there are two com_apple_MobileAsset_DictionaryServices_dictionaryOSX folders in the system.

The first one with all the dictionary resources is in the path:

/System/Library/AssetsV2/PreinstalledAssetsV2/InstallWithOs/com_apple_MobileAsset_DictionaryServices_dictionaryOSX 

The second one is in:

/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_DictionaryServices_dictionaryOSX 

There are several folders under this path. Those folders are the dictionary resources which are actually used by Dictionary.

My approach for the problem is to move the dictionary resources files from the first path to the second path. However, I cannot copy and paste or move the resources from the first path to the second path.

Can someone help me with that?

Thanks.

Hello yunyu,

To move documents into that folder, you have to disable the System Integrity Protection, as I explained in the post above. This is because Mac OS no longer wants users to freely change the contents of the System folder.

As I also documented in that port, moving them to that folder will not work as a current bug will attempt to download or copy new folders into that System folder, whenever you select the dictionary in the Dictionary.app preferences, deleting the ones you copy into it.

If you don't mind setting the dictionaries for each user, instead of System-wide, you can follow the instructions in the subsequent post I wrote, marked as solution for this issue.

Put the dictionary that's inside the AssetData folder directly into the Dictionaries folder, instead of the big numbered folder, e.g.:

/Users/<youruser>/Library/Dictionaries/Portuguese - English2.dictionary

Restart Dictionary.app and the new dictionary will be listed in the preferences.