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

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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

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 14, 2020 8:00 AM in response to nekken169

Glad that technique has worked for you. I have not seen any reoccurrence after re-enabling SIP. Hoping it stays that way!

Best of luck to you.

RiPC

Level 1

12 points

Mar 17, 2020 10:11 AM in response to LD150

I get the 'can't be opened' message, e.g.

“April Payments.numbers” is damaged and can’t be opened.

RiPC

Level 1

12 points

Mar 17, 2020 11:19 AM in response to Old Toad

Done, but same result (only tried one file)

LD150

Level 10

100,149 points

Mar 17, 2020 11:59 AM in response to RiPC

You didn't tell us what options you have when you choose "Open With" - does it give a list of apps?

I hope you are trying to open it with Numbers app? Your example was an Adobe app.

RiPC

Level 1

12 points

Mar 17, 2020 12:20 PM in response to LD150

It gives the default app, and a list of others. Behaviour is true for all file types except (possibly) rtf and txt. Some files (maybe those created not imported/downloaded?) open ok.

LD150

Level 10

100,149 points

Mar 17, 2020 2:44 PM in response to RiPC

Ok there's a number of standard diagnostics.

You should really start your own thread and describe a specific case in detail without flitting between file types.

Old Toad

Level 10

215,364 points

Mar 17, 2020 3:03 PM in response to RiPC

That doesn't solve the problem, it just avoids it. The problem still persists.

LD150

Level 10

100,149 points

Mar 18, 2020 1:39 AM in response to RiPC

And it is a problem with *your* Mac, not the OS as such.

I refer you to my previous response. This thread is becoming stale.

Mar 20, 2020 8:35 AM in response to RiPC

Thanks for your follow through on this issue, RiPC. Glad to hear you got resolution with the help of Apple Support.

RiPC

Level 1

12 points

Mar 20, 2020 9:05 AM in response to Paul MBCA

A little RCA never did anyone any harm,.

wgrahame Author

Level 1

103 points

Dec 14, 2019 2:27 PM in response to TheLittles

Thanks for the suggestion, but the issue is not related to one specific app, it's affecting all my my files on the computer, including documents and download, in all user accounts. The installed applications open and work fine.

It is extremely frustrating dealing with this issue, in my thirty years that I have been using Apple I have never encounter anything like this. As I mention before this the second time this has happen in less than a month and the only solution that fix the issue the first time was doing a clean install, I am not too keen on repeating the process, it was tedious and long.

Something is seriously wrong with Catalina and form what I can tell Apple is not paying attention to the problem or it does not care.

Bye the way tried the Administrator user and it does not fix the problem.

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 6, 2020 10:02 PM in response to dot.com

Dot.com, you are a genius! As you suggested, I restarted my iMac in Recovery mode, launched Terminal, then invoked the csrutil disable command to disable SIP, quit out of Terminal, then restarted to my system volume running macOS Catalina 10.15.2. Once the system was restarted and I logged into my user account, the "file is damaged and can't be opened" behavior was gone. I was able to run the software installer for TechTool Pro (an installer package) and it worked perfectly. I was able to download and open PDF attachments from Apple Mail, all without that annoying message.

Thanks so much for your help.

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 12, 2020 9:16 PM in response to TheLittles

Hello TheLittles, after re-reading your post, I rebooted into Recovery mode in Catalina 10.15.2, enabled SIP using the csrutil enable command, then restarted in to Normal mode. Once there, I used Terminal to very that SIP had been enabled using the csrutil status command, then went about testing my system for the anomalous behavior listed in my other posts on this thread ( "file is damaged and can't be opened" ), and to my pleasant surprise, the anomalous behavior seems to be gone. I can download items from the internet (.dmg. .pdf. .jpeg) or from my backup drives and they open (or mount, in the case of the dmg files) just fine. I can open attachments from Apple Mail, and they open fine. Thank you (and all of the other contributors on this thread) to helping me resolve this vexing issue. Cheers!

MacPCmb

Level 1

9 points

Jan 7, 2020 8:02 AM in response to LD150

yes, Peter — I agree, but not disabling SIP leaves my system in a barely useable state. How would you suggest I troubleshoot this issue? Please advise. Thanks! Paul

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