OS 10.11.4 broke all of my applications...

Yes. You are highjack his thread. You really should start you own thread especially when the OP asks you to do that. It is just common courteous to do that.

really?

Yes. Really.

I am sorry. I thought that chriskan0305 solution of deleting the cache solved your problem too.

Seeing as how it didn't that is probably a very good indication that your problem is different. Which is even more reason for you to start your own thread.

A big thank you to chriskan0305 - your solution worked. Lifesaver!

This was to fix the apparent corrupt applications issue described by the OP. I had a separate admin account already configured on the machine, so it was relatively easy to apply the fix. A couple of notes:

1) In the folder /private/var/folders, I uses ls -al at a terminal prompt to list out contents.

2) I had to change into each folder using "cd [folder name]" (all the folders were two character names) to check the owning account

3) There was a single sub-folder with a long string name e.g. 'dstircnusurybd847h2kmc' or similar, which I also changed into using "cd'

4) I had to use 'sudo rm -rf' to clear out the contents of that folder (otherwise I got permission denied).

Once that was done, I was able to log back into the problem account and all was well again.

Stephen

im a child but i think i know.just don't put bad words in your posts.so maybe you have a dameged startup disk(Macintosh HD by default)because of information overload cuz your mac might have downloaded the OS X El Capitan with a full startup disk so you might have to delete OS X El Capitan and dowload a new software by pressing command r

I am having the same problem on one account. Links to most of my files are also broken. Fortunately, I have a rarely used admin account just for such issues. It works fine. It shows files are still there. I did contact support and they are working on it. They think it has to do with alias links to that account. Still no resolution.

I also had the exact same problem. I did the update from the combo updater, and it may have been my imagination but the update seemed to go very fast and more than a little rough, when it was done one of my monitors was dark and my computer was running very choppy then froze, after a restart the second monitor returned but the system was very sluggish with lot's of spinning beachballs, then I noticed the Application and Utilities folders were empty with the same damage alerts. I did the update to a SSD drive on a PCIe adapter in my MacPro 3,1 and before I read these posts I suspected the problem was there, now I'm not so sure.

I've since rolled back to 10.11.3 and I'll be in a holding pattern here until I can find a fix.

Wakko Warner wrote:

If I want 'bad' words in my posts, then I will put them there.

There's a filter here, so good luck with that. Also, if you try to get around the filter, the Hosts will just remove the word(s) entirely from your post. This a family-friendly support community, and we have younger people (under 18) posting here, so it behooves us all to use appropriate language like intelligent, educated adults.

If you want to cuss up a storm because you're upset at Apple for something not working right on your computer, that's what Twitter/Tumblr/Facebook is for.

Wakko Warner wrote:

Already did it. The word was mild, so I am not worried about it. No need to be all self righteous.

It doesn't matter what your opinion of the word is, it's the opinion of the Hosts that count. It also has nothing to do with being self-righteous. I swear like a drunken sailor on liberty, but I don't do it here. This isn't a bar.