July 25, 2026
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Posted March 13, 2013 at 4:24pm by
These are instructions on how to run applications that 'can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer' in Mac OS X Mountain Lion.

How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

ALLOW SINGLE APP:
If you would like to allow just one specific application to run:

Step One
Hold down the Control key and click the application icon. From the contextual menu choose Open.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Step Two
A popup will appear asking you to confirm this action. Click the Open button.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion


ALLOW ALL APPS:
If you would like to allow all applications from unidentified developers to run:

Step One
Select System Preferences from the Apple Menu at the top left of your screen.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Step Two
Choose Security & Privacy from the System Preferences menu.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Step Three
Select General from the tabs at the top of the Security & Privacy page.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Step Four
Click the Lock icon at the bottom left of the window.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Step Five
Enter your administrative username and password and click Unlock
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Step Six
Select Anywhere from list of places to allow downloaded applications from.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Step Seven
A popup window will appear asking you to confirm your selection. Click the Allow From Anywhere button.
How to Open Applications From Unidentified Developers in Mac OS X Mountain Lion
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Comments (21)
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HELP me
HELP me - December 21, 2017 at 3:43am
What if the button for unidentified apps isn't there
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marika.daboja
marika.daboja - September 26, 2017 at 12:35am
Worked for me.. thanks!
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Ajay_Kumar10
Ajay_Kumar10 - September 7, 2017 at 7:32am
Thank You
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Cravy
Cravy - February 12, 2017 at 8:01am
You can also allow only a certain app. This would stop the need from disabling gatekeeper in general.
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Stephen L. McConnell
Stephen L. McConnell - April 23, 2017 at 5:26pm
As of April 23, 2017.... None of these options work.
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Lewis Kang'ethe Ngugi (Ngeshlew)
Lewis Kang'ethe Ngugi (Ngeshlew) - December 3, 2016 at 1:15pm
Very useful, thanks.
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1
JulieD
JulieD - November 1, 2016 at 9:35pm
Go here to get the 'anywhere' option - took me 2 minutes to fix: 1. Open the Terminal app from the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and then enter the following command syntax: sudo spctl --master-disable 2. Hit return and authenticate with an admin password 3. Relaunch System Preferences and go to “Security & Privacy” and the “General” tab You will now see the “Anywhere” option under ‘Allow apps downloaded from:’ Gatekeeper options
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AlexF
AlexF - January 23, 2017 at 9:20pm
This didn't bring back the option. Should it still work?
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Rob Chesworth
Rob Chesworth - February 13, 2017 at 11:16pm
the command is actually: sudo spctl --master-disable I guess it must have changed in an update.
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MikeD
MikeD - October 31, 2016 at 8:33pm
yeah,,, where is the anywhere option?? lol
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madsodikin
madsodikin - October 22, 2016 at 4:19am
thanks
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willliam
willliam - October 20, 2016 at 1:52pm
thanks guys really helpful
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Kri
Kri - September 23, 2016 at 10:32am
There is no anywhere option!
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Anna Tharakan
Anna Tharakan - October 9, 2016 at 5:45pm
That's what I got... where is the anywhere option
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Hightower
Hightower - May 30, 2016 at 7:56am
Thanks for the help! :)
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Sai Kalyan
Sai Kalyan - January 26, 2016 at 2:51am
Thanks a lot!!!! :)
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Gary White
Gary White - July 4, 2015 at 11:57am
Thank-you!
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fariss
fariss - March 3, 2015 at 2:36pm
you saved my life man, thank you ;)
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Mikari39
Mikari39 - November 2, 2013 at 2:32am
Thank you Thank you Thank you...I can't thank you enough!!!
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nw3pd
nw3pd - October 26, 2013 at 3:34pm
Thank you:)
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Nancy Rivera
Nancy Rivera - October 20, 2013 at 1:01am
This information helped me out a lot. Thank you!
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