InDesign app is damaged and should be moved to the trash

[AuroraPenticton]

There's an updated to InDesign 2024 today, version 19.5.2. After installing, it won't open. My system says the app is damaged and should be moved to the trash. Deleting it and reinstalling it didn't fix it. Going back to version 19.5.1 also gives me the same error. What is going on?

macOS 14.7

[Barb Binder]

Hi @AuroraPenticton:

I'm on the same OS and have never encountered that particular error message. I would use the Adobe CC Cleaner tool to entirely remove 2024, and then reinstall from the CC Desktop app. A regular uninstall doesn't remove everything, the CC Cleaner tool does.

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

~Barb

[AuroraPenticton · Accepted solution]

I just discovered that if I right-click on the app in the Applications folder and choose Open, I get the error but this time the dialog box has an Open button too. I click Open and InDesign opens successfully. From now on, I don't get the error when I click on the app in the dock.

[AuroraPenticton]

Re-applied the 19.5.2 update and it works too. Very strange!

[Barb Binder]

Honestly, very strange. Not only am I a long-time daily InDesign user, I answer questions here and elsewhere and I'm a career InDesign instructor. I've never seen that message, or heard anyone refer to it.

Glad you are back on track. If you are on deadline, it sounds like you can continue forward. If it were me though, I'd still use the CC Cleaner tool/reinstall when I have downtime because something seems off.

~Barb

[Barb Binder]

I'm back to say one more thing: this is a macOS message and not an InDesign message. I found this:

When an application gets downloaded from any source other than those that Apple seems suited, the application gets an extended attribute "com.apple.Quarantine". This triggers the message: "<application> is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the trash."

Please be sure to always and only download Adobe apps from the Adobe website. If you find a free/low-cost option elsewhere, it is typically "non-genuine" (aka pirated) and the pirated versions often come with malware. It's not a risk I would take. I'm not saying you did, I'm just adding it to this thread as a Public Service Announcment because our exchange will be read by others encountering the same message.

~Barb

[AuroraPenticton]

Thanks, yes I'm aware this is an OS message. I've encountered the error before but it was awhile ago and I can't remember what I did to fix it before. This is all downloaded via the Creative cloud app.

[Barb Binder]

Phew! 😅 Again, I would just wait for a quiet moment, then completely remove and reinstall.

Let us know how that goes—we learn as much from user questions as you learn from us. Then we will be prepared the next time it comes up.

~Barb

[Kevin Stohlmeyer · Accepted solution]

@AuroraPenticton try going direct to the application in the Applications folder, then right-click and choose "open" - you'll get a variation of this message but will have the option to "Open Anyway" after that it should work. Apple changed their security proccess for newly installed apps.

[AuroraPenticton]

Yes, I already figured that out by my second posting. The app is running now. I just don't know why applying the update started the problem in the first place, but at least I know a workaround.

[AuroraPenticton]

Curious, why would you mark your answer as the correct answer when it was just repeating what I already said? Shouldn't my own response, 2 hours before yours, be marked as the answer?

[Barb Binder]

Hi @AuroraPenticton:

That was me marking Kevin's answer as correct, and I did so because he offered a clear explanation for why it has started happening, in addition to how to move past it.

As a heads up, you can always mark any answer as correct—including your own—on your own thread. I went ahead and marked yours as well, since you asked about it, because yes, you reported the fix first.

~Barb

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

As Barb said, he explained why it is happening. Remember, the answer isn't just for you but for others with the same problem searching for a solution. 

[szmery]

Hi there!

A few months later I also had a similar problem. Of course, reinstalling doesn't change anything, as the problem is with incorrect application signatures and the system can't authorize it.

I'm writing about this because I tried to apply your advice today, but the system interface or the way security is managed must have changed a bit.

Anyway - in my case, looking in the system settings, in the Privacy and security tab helped - there I saw a message about the InDesign signature incompatibility and only then did the "Open anyway" button appear. I'm writing about this because maybe someone, like me, will have this problem again and will find the updated information useful.

[AuroraPenticton]

 My system is still running Sonoma. In Sequoia and later, Apple changed this security feature so you can only allow the app to run through System Settings, as you mentioned above. In Sonoma and earlier you could allow it to run directly from Finder.

[Uhl]

Same thing happens to me with every Lightroom update. I just go to Settings › Privacy & Security, find the temporary "Adobe [ProductName] was blocked…" section, and click Open Anyway.

More details here:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/lr-app-is-damaged/m-p/154... 

It'd be nice if Adobe fixed this. Seems to only affect a small number of customers, but it’s still annoying. It doesn’t happen with any other apps, even other Adobe ones—so something’s definitely off. And, yes, I tried the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool the first time I hit this, but it still occurs every udpate. 🤷