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You are here: Home / Tips and Tricks / macOS Catalina Application Damaged, Can’t Be Used, Fix

macOS Catalina Application Damaged, Can’t Be Used, Fix

Last updated on October 27, 2019 By Serhat Kurt 13 Comments

Several users have reported that they receive the error message below when they attempt to upgrade to macOS Catalina.

Error Message: This copy of the Install macOS Catalina application is damaged, and can’t be used to install macOS. 

copy of macOS damaged

Are you having this problem? This article explains how you can fix this macOS application damaged error.

Please try each step one at a time until you resolve your issue.

1. Please make sure that you are trying to update to macOS Catalina by going to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Software Update. Do not use any other non-Apple source, such as a third party web site.

2. Delete the damaged macOS version and retry to download again. The copy of the damaged file is located in /Applications folder. You can also use the Terminal to do this. Here is how:

  • Open the Terminal app (Applications > Utilities) (you can use Spotlight)
  • Copy and paste the following command
sudo rm -r /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/
  • Press enter, you may have to enter your admin password

This will delete the app, now you need to re-download and install Catalina. Simply click the Upgrade Now button.

3. Try removing installinfo.plist. Here is how:

  • Open Terminal and enter the followign command and press enter:
sudo rm /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/contents/SharedSupport/installinfo.plist

4. If still having this issue, this may be due to the invalid time on your Mac. You may have to correct this. Here is how:

  • On your Mac, go to System Preferences > Date & Time. Is this showing the correct time and date? If not change it. And check the “set date and time automatically” box. Close this and retry again.
  • If you are stuck before the OS installed (you are unable to access System Preferences), and then you may try the Terminal app to do this. Here is how:
    • Click the Utilities menu (from the macOS Utilities menu) and select Terminal
    • Enter the following command and hit enter
    • date
    • Is it the correct info? If not, change please by using the date {month}{day}{hour}{minute}{year} format. Brackets should be replaced with a two-digit number such as October 8, 2019 11:36 Am (today’s date and current time) would become date 1008113619
    • Type this and press enter
    • Now quit Terminal and try downloading Catalina again.

See also: Apple ID Settings problem

Filed Under: Tips and Tricks Tagged With: Catalina, macOS

Comments

  1. Chris says

    October 16, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    Correcting the date in Utilities > Terminal on the target machine solved it for me. Thanks! Crazy that such a simple issue causes a problem with such an unhelpful (in fact downright untrue) error message.

    Reply
  2. Andy says

    August 13, 2020 at 7:14 am

    This solved my problem too – thanks so much for making this page.

    Reply
  3. kaskas says

    July 7, 2020 at 7:05 pm

    was bad date. terminal command worked!. thank you

    Reply
  4. Sela says

    May 10, 2020 at 6:06 pm

    You have to be a Apple developer to install a simple update. Unreal

    Reply
  5. MF says

    March 29, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    Removing installinfo.plist did the job. Thanks!

    Reply
  6. Tawni says

    March 21, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    How do I enter in my password in Terminal? After I paste your command you posted this pops up: Password: and a key symbol

    Reply
  7. P I Staker says

    March 15, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    Thank you so much this works

    Reply
  8. Vivek Rastogi says

    February 14, 2020 at 4:31 am

    The moment I open Safari, I am getting error “captmoncnab3” is damaged and can’t be opened. This method will work for this error as well?

    Reply
  9. Will says

    February 12, 2020 at 1:00 am

    Solved the issue, a system restart was what I needed.

    Reply
  10. Will says

    February 11, 2020 at 11:56 pm

    So what if I’ve tried everything? Is it possibly because I have an MDM on my Mac?

    Reply
  11. amin says

    October 26, 2019 at 10:25 pm

    i cant find “ysilypmssboi” for delete it

    Reply
  12. Dr Kaoz says

    October 19, 2019 at 4:18 am

    Thanks it works

    Reply
  13. Casey says

    October 18, 2019 at 10:39 am

    Terminal command worked. Thank you.

    Reply

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