‘Will Damage Your Computer’ Keeps Popping Up on Mac

What is ‘[Program name] will damage your computer’ warning

A Mac warning saying ‘will damage your computer’ sounds scary. If you’re anything like me, your mind probably immediately jumps to thinking that you’ve accidentally downloaded malware or that your MacBook is about to break completely.

However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that.

Important: 

 

When ‘[App name] will damage your computer’ on Mac keeps popping up, it’s important to know that it isn’t a virus or a notification caused by malware. Instead, your MacBook is trying to keep you safe from applications that Apple hasn’t verified as safe. It’s actually a sign that your Mac’s security settings are working as intended!

 

You might see the error when you attempt to open an application. Sometimes it might stop you from opening the app entirely.

 

The Mac warning 'will damage your computer' isn’t the same as a pop-up virus. Check out our article on what to do if you’re seeing the system is infected pop-up on MacBook.

Why does your Mac keep saying 'will damage your computer'

Apple carries out some security checks on each app installed on your system. The Mac warning ‘[App name] will damage your computer’ might appear when Apple can’t verify that an application is safe.

macOS uses a feature called Gatekeeper to check applications. Since MacOS Catalina, every version of MacOS requires Apple​​ to notarize apps, which means Apple has checked it for malware.

However, if an app has been modified or Apple has revoked their authorization, you might see the warning.

It might also happen when you’ve downloaded applications directly from the internet rather than from the App Store.

A note from our experts:

 

To remove adware from your Mac and avoid the new ones, we recommend using a dedicated third-party app. MacKeeper’s Adware Cleaner blocks annoying ads and their pop-ups to protect you from clicking them and removes existing threats.

 

Here’s how to use MacKeeper’s Adware Cleaner:

1. Download MacKeeper and follow the on-screen instructions to install it.
2. Open the app and choose Adware Cleaner from the sidebar.
3. Click Open.
4. Make sure Real-time Monitoring is active, and click Start Scan.
5. When the scan is complete, follow the on-screen instructions to remove any threats.

How to fix ‘will damage your computer’ message on Mac

Now you know about the origin of the error saying '[App name] will damage your computer', you’ll want a Mac bypass for it. After all, it’s irritating to have a pop-up appear when you’re trying to use your MacBook.

There are a few ways you can fix the error and remove the Mac warning 'will damage your computer.'

To bypass 'will damage your computer' warnings on Mac:

1. Remove suspicious apps and files
2. Use antivirus software to remove malware from Mac
3. Turn off Gatekeeper verification
4. Disable gatekeeper for one app
5. Override anti-malware protection if you’re confident there’s no malware

Do these methods sound complicated? Don’t worry, I’ll explain all the steps as we go along.

1. Remove suspicious apps and files

The warning is there to keep your Mac safe—so if you’re not confident about whether the app is legitimate, I’d suggest removing it.

You can remove applications and files by dragging them to the Bin and then right-clicking and choosing Empty Bin.

However, if you want to make sure that an app is completely removed, with no leftovers, you can use a Mac cleaner, such as MacKeeper’s Smart Uninstaller.

How to remove suspicious apps on your Mac:

1. Open MacKeeper and choose Smart Uninstaller from the sidebar.
2. Click Start Scan.
3. Select the apps you want to remove, and choose Remove Selected.

2. Use antivirus

Every Mac user should have reliable antivirus software. If you’ve never used antivirus software before or want to find out more about keeping your system safe, check out our article on how to find malware on Mac.

You should also make sure to scan your Mac for adware, as well as use antivirus protection.

To scan your Mac for adware using MacKeeper

1. Open MacKeeper and choose Adware Cleaner.
2. Click Open.
3. Click Start Scan.
4. If Adware Cleaner finds any adware, follow the on-screen instructions to remove the suspicious content from your Mac.

3. Turn off Gatekeeper verification

Gatekeeper, Apple’s app checker, might flag up applications that you know are safe. If you want to be able to open software without the Mac warning 'will damage your computer,' you could turn off Gatekeeper verification.

Apple makes it a little bit difficult to do this because it’s an important security feature. But it’s still possible to disable Gatekeeper verification on some versions of macOS.

Our expert’s tip: This method isn’t available in all versions of macOS—you probably won’t be able to use it in macOS Sonoma or Sequoia. However, if you have an older Mac, this method might work for you.

To turn off Gatekeeper verification on your Mac:

1. Open Terminal—you can do this by going to Launchpad, searching for Terminal, and pressing Enter.
2. Paste or type the command sudo spctl —master-disable and press Enter. You might be asked to enter your password—if so, do this and press Enter again.
3. Go to Apple menu > System Settings. (This was formerly called System Preferences.)
4. Scroll down to Privacy & Security, and, in the section marked Allow applications downloaded from, choose Anywhere.

A hint from our team: If you aren’t the administrator of your Mac, or an IT team or system administrator manages your Mac, you may not be able to do this. Talk to your IT department if you’re having trouble.

4. Disable Gatekeeper for one application

If you still want to keep Gatekeeper’s protection but want to be able to open one particular app without seeing the warning message, you can do that, too.

You’ll use a command in Terminal to disable the warning.

To use Terminal to disable Gatekeeper for one application and bypass 'will damage your computer' on Mac:

1. Open Terminal.
2. Paste or type the following command, and press Enter: xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine[path to app here]

Our extra hint: Once you’ve written the first part of the command, you can drag and drop the app’s icon into the Terminal window to automatically insert the file path.

5. Override anti-malware protection

If you’re confident that the warning isn’t caused by anything serious, you can bypass the Mac 'will damage your computer' warning by overriding Apple’s security features.

To override your Mac’s protection and avoid the 'will damage your computer' warning:

1. After you’ve tried to open the app, go to Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Select Privacy & Security in the sidebar, and scroll down until you see a button saying Open Anyway. Click this.

Conclusion

The Mac warning '[App Name] will damage your computer' might look worrying, but it doesn’t always mean that something is wrong. It’s usually just a message that appears to tell you that an application was downloaded from an unknown source—it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s malicious or suspicious.

The removal tips in this article should help you, but remember that you still need to be careful about security for your MacBook. MacKeeper’s Adware Cleaner can help—with real-time monitoring and on-demand scans, it’ll alert you to malicious apps on your system.