Fix App Won’t Open on Mac with Quick Troubleshooting Tips And Tricks

Have you ever experienced the App won’t open on Mac issue? It is quite a frustrating scenario as it might stop the working of your device in severe cases. An app might not open if you have installed a corrupted version of this app on your PC. Similarly, the app might not open if it has become outdated. It is essential to clear the browser cache periodically. Otherwise, the temporary files and folders might conflict with the apps installed on your PC and make them unresponsive. So let us discuss in this article the possible ways of resolving this critical issue with minimum efforts.

Effective Methods to Fix the App Won’t Open on Mac Issue:

Have a look at the possible ways of recovering this problematic app issue on Mac device.

Method 1: Delete Appropriate ‘.plist’ Files

Corrupted ‘.plist’ files might result in a non-launching application. Most of these files are stored in the ‘Preferences’ folder inside the Library folder of your home directory. Hence go to the ‘Library’ folder of the home directory and open the ‘Preferences’ folder. Select the ‘.plist’ files and click on the ‘Delete’ button. Else, you might also select the files and drag it to your desktop. Then, re-attempt to launch the app and hope now it is going to open without an app won’t open on Mac issue.

Method 2: Update the App

Click on the ‘Menu’ and open the App Store. Then, locate the problematic app and click on the ‘Updates’ button to see the pending updates. Tap the ‘Update’ button and wait until your Mac has downloaded the pending updates for that app. You will get a confirmation message when your device has downloaded and installed all the pending updates for the specific app. Then, you can try to open the app and ensure that the problem is resolved.

Method 3: Reinstall the App

If you find that any particular application not opening Mac, then you can go for this method to solve it. Open the App Store from the main menu of your desktop. Find out the particular app, right-click on it and select ‘Uninstall.’ Click ‘OK’ on the dialog box to confirm the action. After receiving the popup message that the app has been successfully uninstalled, search for that app on the internet. Then, download the latest version of that app and click on the ‘Install’ button to launch it again on your Mac.

Method 4: Clear the Browser Cache

We have explained the process of clearing cache separately for different types of browser applicable on Mac. This will positively help you in resolving app won’t open on Mac issue.

Safari

1. Open the web browser on your Mac and select ‘Preferences’ under the ‘Menu’ tab.
2. Click on the ‘Privacy’ tab on the Preferences window and tap the ‘Remove all website data’ button.
3. Hit the ‘Remove now’ button on the popup dialog box to continue.

Firefox

1. Launch Firefox on your Mac and select ‘Tools’ from the menu.
2. Choose ‘Clear recent history’ and click the drop-down arrow next to the ‘Time range to clear’ option.
3. Select ‘Everything’ and click on ‘Details’ and check the boxes for Cookies and cache.
4. Tap the ‘Clear Now’ button located at the bottom of the window to delete your whole browsing history.

Opera

1. Open Opera on your Mac and click on ‘Tools.’
2. Choose ‘Delete private data’ and check the ‘Delete temporary cookies’ and ‘Delete temporary cookies’ boxes.
3. Finally, click on the ‘Delete’ button to confirm the action.

After clearing the browser cache, do not forget to restart your Mac and open the non-launching app.

Method 5: Check the App Permissions

If a range of permissions is attached with your Mac operating system application, then that might prevent them from launching. Hence, you need to ensure whether any permissions are attached to your app or not.

1. Select the afflicted application and click on the ‘Action menu to access the ‘Show Package Contents’ option.
2. Expand the ‘Contents’ folder and locate the ‘Mac OS’ folder therein.
3. Open the Terminal located in ‘Applications/Utilities’ section.
4. Then, enter ‘sudo chmod 755’ command and drag the Mac OS folder to the Terminal window.
5. Press the ‘Return’ button and enter the administrator password as prompted.
6. You are going to obtain the permissions required for running that app.

Method 6: Kill the Process in Activity Monitor

Often an application related problem gets solved by killing the application related process via Activity Monitor. It is an inbuilt tool in Mac to solve issues associated with the installed applications. Go to the ‘Application/Utilities’ menu and launch the Activity Monitor. Find the processes associated with the problematic application and click on the ‘Quit’ button. Try to relaunch the application and the application will open as usual.

Method 7: Reboot your Mac

The simplest method of rebooting your Mac is to hold down the Power button until your Mac shuts down. Press the Power button again to restart your Mac. On the other way round, you can hold down the ‘Control’ and ‘Command’ keys and press the Power button. Now, see whether the app opens correctly after this force restart or not.

Method 8: Create a New User Account

Create a new user account and see whether the app opens under that account or not. If it opens, then undoubtedly app won’t open on Mac issue gets resolved. We have detailed down the steps of creating a new user account.

1. Click on the Apple menu, choose System Preferences and select Users and Groups.
2. Click on the lock icon and enter an administrator name along with the password.
3. Tap the Add button below the list of users to add a new account.
4. Click on the new Account pop-up menu and choose the type of user you would like to have among the available options.
5. If you select Administrator, then you would be able to add and manage other users on your device. Moreover, you can install an app of your choice and modify its settings.
6. Whereas, standard users have the right to install an app and change their own settings only. They are restricted from adding other users and changing their settings as well.
7. Users managed with parental controls can access only those apps and contents specified by the administrator.
8. Apart from all these options, users of the Sharing Only group can access the shared files remotely. But, they are forbidden from logging into your system and changing its settings.
9. Type the full name of the new user and you will get an account name automatically.
10. Enter another account name if you want to use a different account name. Otherwise, you won’t be allowed to change it later on.
11. Enter a proper password for the new user account and confirm it.
12. Click on the ‘Create User’ button to create the new account.
13. If you have selected Administrator in the previous steps, then select ‘Allow the user to administer this computer’ option. Choose ‘Enable parental control’ for the other option and set up the parental controls accordingly. In addition to these, specify whether the user is free to share the files and screen of your PC or not.

The solutions mentioned in this article are sufficient enough to fix the app won’t open on Mac issue. Hope that by going through the procedure described above, you would be able to resolve this issue without any difficulties or hassle. But still, if you fail to get rid of this particular issue on your Mac devices, then it’s better to opt for a professional’s assistance.