Tag Archives: software

Installing Unsigned Software on a Mac

I’ve been starting to find more useful software that isn’t necessarily produced by a big software company or installed though the Mac App Store. I was a little surprised when I first received the following dialog:
Unsigned_Installer

It’s nice that Apple is adding restrictions that will help prevent the accidental installation of potentially untrusted software, but how do I install this software when I’m sure I want to install software that’s not signed.

It’s actually pretty simple. Open “System Preferences” and select the “Security & Privacy” Preferences. Select the “General” tab and click the lock to allow changes (you’re not doing your daily computing with an Administrator account). Authenticate with an admin account.

You should see the following:
Allowed_Installers

Under “Allow applications downloaded from:”, select “Anywhere”. MacOS will warn you with the following message:
Allow_Anywhere_Installation

Click “Allow from anywhere” and install your “untrusted” software. Make sure you change your settings back to “Mac App Store and identified developers” or if you want to be really secure set it to “Mac App Store” only. Then whenever you download software to install, you’ll have to consciously change this setting.