Error "You can’t open the application “TextEdit.app” because it may be damaged or incomplete." on my iMac

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Level 1

4 points

Error "You can’t open the application “TextEdit.app” because it may be damaged or incomplete." on my iMac

For various reasons I need to restore my system back to Mohave from Catalina (yes its an old computer!). I chose a backup and all seemed to work well. However I now cannot access System Preferences, Launch Pad, FaceTime, Text Edit, Calendar as well as some other non apple apps. The message is "You can’t open the application “TextEdit.app” because it may be damaged or incomplete."

I tried copying disk utilities across from another mac but First Aid didn't pick up anything.

I also seem to have a folder now called Macintosh Hard Disk Data. Don't know where that came from!

Is there anything I can do?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 13, 2024 1:24 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

g_wolfman

Level 4

3,502 points

Aug 13, 2024 4:41 PM in response to ceris256

Pretty sure you can't successfully revert OS versions like that. If you have a backup of your home folder, you probably ought to wipe the computer and reinstall Mojave, then manually copy your files over.

That said, there is no computer running Mojave that can't upgrade to Catalina (and Mojave will never stop offering the Catalina update because of that). Why not just reinstall Catalina? That will probably fix your problem.

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Answer 2

ceris256 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 14, 2024 8:46 AM in response to g_wolfman

Thanks for your response. I upgraded to Catalina and lost all Microsoft Office apps and I need Excel and Outlook at the moment. If I tried to update them I could only get Office 365 which doesn't work on Catalina! I have rebooted back to Mohave and all is good except that Various system apps don't work, the most significant being system preferences. I just tried again with a different backup date and the same thing has happened.

If its possible to get an old version of Office that will work on Catalina whilst still having to pay for 365 then that's an option.

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Answer 3

g_wolfman

Level 4

3,502 points

Aug 15, 2024 9:15 AM in response to ceris256

Just FYI - if it were me, I'd customize the installation (should be a button on the same installer screen where you click "Install" and just install the apps you want - otherwise you get OneNote, OneDrive, maybe even Teams.

Hopefully you will be able to log into one of the apps and activate your license. Hopefully the autoupdater doesn't crash (although there wouldn't be any updates, so you could disable it).

Good luck.

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