Allowing unsigned/un-notarized applications/plugins in Mac OS

Apple’s official help page.

Mac OSX Gatekeeper protects its users from installing untrusted software. Older versions of Venn Audio products may not be verified by Apple and can trigger a warning on Mac OS.

Mojave/High Sierra

Depending on your settings, you may see a message, “the developer cannot be verified”. If you receive this message, try to follow these steps:

  • Go into System Preferences → Security and Privacy.
  • On the first tab, when an unsigned application is blocked from loading, there is an ‘Open anyway’ box which appears there.
  • Click it!

Catalina and newer

Catalina ramped up the security requirements and not only requires the developers to be verified, but the software to be notarized (scanned for malware). Allowing unverified software now requires a Terminal command, for example:

xattr -c /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Utility.component

If that does not work, you can disable Gatekeeper entirely using the following Terminal command:

sudo spctl --master-disable

Once you have installed and run your plugin, you should be able to continue to run it when you re-enable Gatekeeper:

sudo spctl --master-enable

If you have any problems/questions/feedback or need any more help, we always like hearing from you via the contact form.