DuskPort

macOS: 'Dusk is damaged and can't be opened' — Fix

macOS Gatekeeper flags Dusk on first launch because it isn't notarized. One Terminal command clears the quarantine. Full fix and why it's expected.

Published 2026-05-14 ·Updated 2026-05-14

If you see one of these on macOS:

“Dusk” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

“Dusk” can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.

…Dusklight is not damaged. macOS Gatekeeper is blocking it because the binary isn’t notarized by an Apple Developer ID. This is expected for an open-source CC0 project and there’s a one-line fix.

Fix — Terminal (works on all macOS versions)

xattr -cr /Applications/Dusk.app

What this does: clears the com.apple.quarantine extended attribute from the entire .app bundle. After this, double-click Dusklight and it’ll launch normally.

If you installed Dusklight somewhere other than /Applications, adjust the path.

Fix — UI (macOS 12-14 only)

  1. Right-click Dusk.app in Finder
  2. Choose Open from the context menu
  3. Click Open in the dialog that appears

This is a one-time approval. After it, double-clicking works.

Fix — UI (macOS 15 Sequoia)

Apple removed the right-click bypass in macOS 15. Instead:

  1. Try to launch Dusklight (it’ll be blocked)
  2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security
  3. Scroll to the bottom — there should be a message: “Dusklight was blocked from use because it is not from an identified developer.”
  4. Click Open Anyway
  5. Enter your password if prompted

Want to verify the binary first?

You should. Before clearing the quarantine, verify the SHA-256 of your download against the official release:

shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Dusk-v1.0.1-darwin-arm64.zip

The official SHA-256 for each platform binary is listed on the install hub — those numbers come from the Dusklight Releases page directly.

Last updated 2026-05-14.