Catalina and Microsoft Apps

[eyoungren]

A day ago I went to open MS Word 2019. It wouldn't open. No quit messages or errors, just won't start. I tried several basic things (restarting, opening from the Applications folder, etc) and none of that worked. So I left it alone until today. A proper Google search revealed that as of 10.15.4 this became an issue. It has to do with code signing.

I found this: https://www.reddit.com/r/CatalinaPatcher/comments/gdkrq9
After working through the Terminal commands, all my MS apps now open as expected. The above will also solve a non-open for Google Chrome.

If this is a known thing, well then I am posting this in case anyone that does not know might have a problem.

I suppose the commands could be dropped into an Applescript and that could be run. If I have to do this again I might look into that.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Does this happen even if you turn off Gatekeeper?

 

[eyoungren]

Does this happen even if you turn off Gatekeeper?

IDK. It just started happening a few days ago. I don't believe Gatekeeper was turned off, but it also wasn't involved. I would click to open the apps and absolutely nothing would happen. No bounce in the dock, no messages, nothing. It was as if I had never clicked on the app to open it.

Following the commands above resolved the issue and the apps open now. I suspect it may have started happening because originally these apps were installed under Mojave and then I updated to Catalina. It was just weird that they worked for a short while and then just stopped.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Catalina and above verify code signatures with an Apple server if Gatekeeper is enabled and your Mac is connected to the internet, each time an app is launched. So I suspect the server was malfunctioning.

Replacing the app's code signature with your own (sudo codesign -f -s - Foo.app) is a somewhat drastic step if you're not purposefully modifying things. It removes all of an application's entitlements, including sandboxing, which can cause problems, and of course defeats the point of app notarization.

But I’m glad it’s working for you!