Level 1

103 points

file is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

All the files that I download from the internet return the error "*****" is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash. when I try to open them. This issue started today.

To clarify the problem only applies to downloaded files like apps, zip and dmg.

I'm able to open all the other files and run apps.

To solve the issue I reinstalled Catalina and disable Gatekeeper without any success.

Any Ideas on how to resolve this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) running Catalina 10..15.1

Thanks in advance,

WFG

iMac 27", macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 26, 2019 5:05 PM

Top-ranking reply

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Jan 11, 2020 11:43 AM

On my 2013 27" iMac, turning off SIP was the solution to my systems problems after macOS 10.15.2 was installed, at which point, everything in the Downloads folder gave the error message “file is damaged and can't be opened”. This behavior was also true for any attachment downloaded from Apple Mail, any downloaded installer file (.dmg or package). After SIP was disabled via the Terminal command csrutil disable in the Recovery mode, these symptoms disappeared completely. When I enabled SIP once again by rebooting my system, this anomalous behavior returned, with the "file is damaged" message being displayed (for files that were not, in fact, damaged at all).

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59 replies

TheLittles

Level 10

202,663 points

Jan 7, 2020 8:58 AM in response to wgrahame

I just want to emphasize: Don’t forget to enable SIP (System Integrity Protection) once all is complete. Use this command in Terminal while in Recovery Mode: csrutil enable

Then Confirm it is Enabled:

To confirm that SIP is enabled, reboot into Normal Mode and type this in Terminal (Found in Applications > Utilities): csrutil status

El Deanio

Level 3

809 points

Jan 11, 2020 3:10 PM in response to El Deanio

Couldn’t find the post I was reading but, from another post I found, I believe I had to enter the following -

spctl --master-disable (Also I understand that the space after spctl is important so don’t omit it)

Mar 17, 2020 7:54 AM in response to RiPC

Hi Dazzzz, I can confirm the same happens on my system. I also get two HD icons in the finder. I have not found a resolution other than to keep SIP off. This happened even after a full reinstall fro scratch.

RiPC

Level 1

12 points

Mar 17, 2020 8:20 AM in response to nekken169

I have also found that I can successfully open a file from within an App e.g. Adobe Reader. However the same file will not open from within Finder.

LD150

Level 10

98,995 points

Mar 17, 2020 9:22 AM in response to RiPC

What do you see in Finder if you use Open With ?

(Strictly speaking you shgould open a new thread.)

wgrahame Author

Level 1

103 points

Dec 18, 2019 7:51 PM in response to wgrahame

Could not find a Fix, for the third time in a month I had to erase may machine and then do a restore. The difference is that this time I did a restore using the Time Machine backup from from the day before applying the 10.15.2 update, in previous 2 incidents I did a combination fresh Mac OS 10.15 install, manually transferring my files and migration assistance to move over apps from Time Machine.

Everything seems to be working fine, not sure how to proceed with the 10.15.2 update, I do not want to find my self in the same situation.

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 4, 2020 11:54 AM in response to dot.com

Thanks for your response. I used the terminal commands above and got the following results in Catalina, will post results from Mojave in my next post:

User@iMac27 Desktop % sum install_backblaze.dmg

3423 17245 install_backblaze.dmg

User@iMac27 Desktop % ls -lae@ install_backblaze.dmg

-rw-r--r--@ 1 username staff 17658479 Jan 3 13:54 install_backblaze.dmg

com.apple.lastuseddate#PS 16

com.apple.macl 72

com.apple.metadata:kMDItemDownloadedDate 53

com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms 101

com.apple.quarantine 57

In Catalina, here are the results of the ifconfig -a command:

lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 16384

options=1203<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,TXSTATUS,SW_TIMESTAMP>

inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000

inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128

inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

gif0: flags=8010<POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST> mtu 1280

stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280

en1: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=400<CHANNEL_IO>

ether 88:63:df:a5:29:47

inet6 fe80::1c4a:9567:2fa3:d557%en1 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x4

inet 192.168.254.11 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.254.255

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: autoselect

status: active

p2p0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 2304

options=400<CHANNEL_IO>

ether 0a:63:df:a5:29:47

media: autoselect

status: inactive

awdl0: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1484

options=400<CHANNEL_IO>

ether ae:6f:ac:b2:7f:5a

inet6 fe80::ac6f:acff:feb2:7f5a%awdl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x6

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: autoselect

status: active

llw0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=400<CHANNEL_IO>

ether ae:6f:ac:b2:7f:5a

inet6 fe80::ac6f:acff:feb2:7f5a%llw0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x7

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: autoselect

status: active

en2: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=460<TSO4,TSO6,CHANNEL_IO>

ether 82:0d:65:07:00:00

media: autoselect <full-duplex>

status: inactive

en3: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=460<TSO4,TSO6,CHANNEL_IO>

ether 82:0d:65:07:00:01

media: autoselect <full-duplex>

status: inactive

en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=50b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_HWTAGGING,AV,CHANNEL_IO>

ether 0c:4d:e9:c7:76:23

inet6 fe80::10e4:6152:2b72:f389%en0 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0xa

inet 192.168.254.13 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.254.255

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex,flow-control,energy-efficient-ethernet>)

status: active

bridge0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=63<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,TSO4,TSO6>

ether 82:0d:65:07:00:00

Configuration:

id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0

maxage 0 holdcnt 0 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200

root id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 ifcost 0 port 0

ipfilter disabled flags 0x2

member: en2 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 8 priority 0 path cost 0

member: en3 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 9 priority 0 path cost 0

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: <unknown type>

status: inactive

utun0: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380

inet6 fe80::a58e:6376:e798:86b5%utun0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xc

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

utun1: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 2000

inet6 fe80::4fb:54ef:4b3a:3a3e%utun1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xd

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

utun2: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380

inet6 fe80::6701:854a:bcb:7f73%utun2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xe

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 4, 2020 12:30 PM in response to MacPCmb

Thank you for any help you can provide to troubleshoot this issue, which is applicable to any file I am downloading from the internet in Safari on my iMac running macOS Catalina 10.15.2, and also a pdf email attachment from Apple Mail.

Here are the comparable results from my MacBook Pro running macOS Mojave 10.14.6, for the same installer file downloaded from backblaze.com:

MacBookPro:Desktop username$ sum install_backblaze.dmg

3423 17245 install_backblaze.dmg

MacBookPro:Desktop username$ ls -lae@ install_backblaze.dmg

-rw-r--r--@ 1 username staff 17658479 Jan 3 11:28 install_backblaze.dmg

com.apple.diskimages.fsck 20

com.apple.diskimages.recentcksum 81

com.apple.lastuseddate#PS 16

com.apple.metadata:kMDItemDownloadedDate 53

com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms 152

com.apple.quarantine 57

Here are the results of the ifconfig -a command in Mojave:

lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 16384

options=1203<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,TXSTATUS,SW_TIMESTAMP>

inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000

inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128

inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

gif0: flags=8010<POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST> mtu 1280

stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280

XHC20: flags=0<> mtu 0

XHC1: flags=0<> mtu 0

XHC0: flags=0<> mtu 0

en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

ether 8c:85:90:ad:aa:65

inet6 fe80::41b:208e:4bb1:738a%en0 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x7

inet 192.168.254.43 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.254.255

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: autoselect

status: active

p2p0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 2304

ether 0e:85:90:ad:aa:65

media: autoselect

status: inactive

awdl0: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1484

ether 7a:89:47:49:7a:ad

inet6 fe80::7889:47ff:fe49:7aad%awdl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x9

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: autoselect

status: active

en7: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

ether ac:de:48:00:11:22

inet6 fe80::aede:48ff:fe00:1122%en7 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xa

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: autoselect

status: active

en1: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=60<TSO4,TSO6>

ether de:00:cc:69:c5:01

media: autoselect <full-duplex>

status: inactive

en2: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=60<TSO4,TSO6>

ether de:00:cc:69:c5:00

media: autoselect <full-duplex>

status: inactive

en3: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=60<TSO4,TSO6>

ether de:00:cc:69:c5:05

media: autoselect <full-duplex>

status: inactive

en4: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=60<TSO4,TSO6>

ether de:00:cc:69:c5:04

media: autoselect <full-duplex>

status: inactive

bridge0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=63<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,TSO4,TSO6>

ether de:00:cc:69:c5:01

Configuration:

id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0

maxage 0 holdcnt 0 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200

root id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 ifcost 0 port 0

ipfilter disabled flags 0x2

member: en1 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 11 priority 0 path cost 0

member: en2 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 12 priority 0 path cost 0

member: en3 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 13 priority 0 path cost 0

member: en4 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 14 priority 0 path cost 0

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

media: <unknown type>

status: inactive

utun0: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 2000

inet6 fe80::e07a:b04e:8598:bd83%utun0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x10

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

utun1: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380

inet6 fe80::9dad:816b:cb30:f1db%utun1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x11

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

utun2: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380

inet6 fe80::8efd:ff3d:da66:279a%utun2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x12

nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 4, 2020 3:39 PM in response to MacPCmb

Also, I just created a new admin user "Test", logged into that user, and downloaded the Backblaze installer file from the link above. When attempting to open it, I get the same error message: “install_backblaze.dmg” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

So this does not seem to be limited to my user account on this system. Bummer.

Any help you can provide to resolve this issue would be appreciated.

LD150

Level 10

98,995 points

Jan 12, 2020 12:58 AM in response to El Deanio

You *think* it was that? So...

What does the command do?

What are the risks?

How do you make it safe again?

This thread is becoming a tutorial on how to take down every safeguard they built into the OS. May as well run Windoze.

RiPC

Level 1

12 points

Mar 17, 2020 7:22 AM in response to Dazzzz

Following a full systems restore (after hardware repair) and thus OS upgrade to Catalina 10.15.3 I have this problem seemingly across all files. Disabling SIP fixes this, but it recurs when SIP is re-enabled.

Suggestions?

RiPC

Level 1

12 points

Mar 18, 2020 4:50 AM in response to LD150

Thanks for responses. Certainly getting long, if not stale. Symptoms experienced are same at end of thread as those described by others at start. Problem is seen not just on my Mac, but also on others. Occurs across various file types and apps. Can be alleviated by changing OS settings (but a rightly pointed out not solved. First seen after an OS upgrade. So......

Old Toad

Level 10

215,112 points

Nov 27, 2019 1:43 PM in response to wgrahame

To tell if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide log into another user account on your Mac, download a file and try to open it. If it opens then we know the problem is limited to your account.

Back in your account boot into Safe Mode (Use Safe Mode to isolate issues with your Mac) and repeat the download and open test. Reboot normally try opening the files again.\

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing.

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 4, 2020 12:32 PM in response to MacPCmb

Let me know if there is any other information you need to see on this... Thanks. Paul

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 6, 2020 3:57 PM in response to dot.com

Ok, interesting. I will give it a go tonight and let you know if it resolves the problem. I appreciate your help.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

file is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.