Move to Applications Folder?

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Level 1

9 points

Move to Applications Folder?

I have encountered the following alert on a handful of machines after running clean installs of macOS High Sierra. The first time I attempt to run an application that has been either installed via an installer or dragged to the /Applications folder, I receive:

If I click "Move to Applications Folder," two versions of the app are moved to the trash:

This has happened across machines and with multiple different apps. It does not happen with apps installed via the App Store.

Clicking "Do Not Move" lets me open the app - but I still get the error on subsequent attempts to open it. Can anyone help me understand this behavior and if there is anything I can do to convince macOS that the applications are indeed running from the machine's /Applications folder?

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Oct 26, 2017 10:47 AM

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Answer 1

dialabrain

Level 10

136,025 points

Oct 26, 2017 11:32 AM in response to thegrif

Then it's most likely a third party app you have installed.

Please download and install EtreCheck and post the report here.

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

136,025 points

Oct 26, 2017 11:42 AM in response to thegrif

If you didn't migrate anything over from a backup, then try creating new user and see if you have the same problem.

FWIW, I have 5 Macs running High Sierra here and none exhibit the issue you describe.

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

136,025 points

Oct 26, 2017 11:19 AM in response to thegrif

Actually macOS was not the issue. The message was coming from the app itself. There is no problem running apps from outside the Applications folder. I've been doing it for 20+ years. As have many people.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

136,025 points

Oct 26, 2017 11:21 AM in response to thegrif

FWIW, it sounds for all the world like a flaw in the apps coding. You can always contact the developer and mention it to them.

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Answer 5

thegrif Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 26, 2017 11:04 AM in response to dialabrain

I have tried checking that and it works as expected - it does not fire the alert the next time the program is run.

That said, it does not remedy the problem that macOS thinks applications are running outside of /Applications. I am concerned if there are security implications here or whether this has anything to do with quarantine/gatekeeper/etc...

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Answer 6

thegrif Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 26, 2017 11:19 AM in response to dialabrain

I think you are missing the point:

The application is in /Applications
On first launch, the OS pops the notification about it not being in /Applications
If you click "Move to Applications" the OS deposits two versions of the app (one with a version number in the name, one without) in Trash

This is not normal behavior - and I believe it's worth investigating the root cause versus just dismissing the error.

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