Gatekeeper and System Integrity Protection (SIP) are two security barriers Apple equips for MacOS. Help prevent malware and secure your system. However, it restricts us from installing software not directly from the AppStore, such as Microsoft Office for Mac or Adobe Photoshop for Mac… This article, Lucid Gen will guide you to disable Gatekeeper (Enable Anywhere option) and disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac with simple pictures to make it easier for you to understand.
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What is Gatekeeper?
Gatekeeper is a security feature of Apple’s macOS operating system. It enforces code signing and verifies downloaded applications before allowing them to run, thus reducing the chance of inadvertently executing malware. Gatekeeper builds on File Quarantine, introduced in Mac OS X Leopard and extended in Mac OS X Snow Leopard, i.e., has been available on Mac since version 10.7.
What is System Integrity Protection (SIP)?
System Integrity Protection (SIP, sometimes called rootless) is a security feature of Apple’s macOS operating system introduced in OS X El Capitan (OS X 10.11). It includes some mechanisms implemented by the kernel. One central is protecting system-owned files and directories against modification by processes without specific “rights”, even when executed by the root user or the authorized user root (sudo).
Apple says that the root user can be a significant risk factor to system security, especially on a single user account. That user is also an administrator. System Integrity Protection is enabled by default but can be disabled.
How to disable Gatekeeper on Mac
The steps to disable Gatekeeper are as follows:
Step 1: Open Terminal quickly by pressing Command Space and then find Terminal.
Step 2: Type in the Terminal command line below to request disable Gatekeeper on Mac.
sudo spctl --master-disable
Step 3: Enter the user password on your Macbook. Note that it will not display the password when you enter it. Just enter it and press Enter. And the password is correct, and then Terminal will return the result like the picture.
If you enter the wrong password, you will be told Sorry, try again. Just re-enter the correct password and press Enter.
Step 4: Check if Gatekeeper has been disabled successfully by typing the command below and pressing Enter.
spctl --statusWhen Terminal returns assessments disabled, you have successfully disabled Gatekeeper.
When you have disabled Gatekeeper on your Macbook, it means that the Anywhere option has been enabled. You can install apps downloaded from Anywhere.
You can check by opening Security & privacy, look at the General tab.
How to re-enable Gatekeeper on Mac
To re-enable Gatekeeper, you also open Terminal as instructed above. Then enter this command line to request to enable Gatekeeper.
sudo spctl --master-enable
Then you enter the user password and Enter. You can check if Gatekeeper is enabled by typing the next command line and then pressing Enter.
spctl --statusWhen Terminal returns assessments enabled, you have successfully enabled Gatekeeper.
How to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac
The steps to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac are as follows:
Step 1: To disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac, you need to boot into Recovery mode. By Restarting in combination with holding down the Command R key during startup.
| macOS | Apple M1 chip | Intel chip |
|---|---|---|
| Big Sur (11.0) and above | Turn off the device completely > Hold down the power button until the screen appears “Loading boot options”. | Open Apple menu > Restart by holding down the Command and R buttons during startup. |
| Catalina (10.0) or less | Open Apple menu > Restart by holding down the Command and R buttons during startup. |
Step 2: You open the Terminal in the top menu bar.
Step 3: You enter this command line and click Enter to ask to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac.
csrutil disableFor Macbook M1 you will be asked more
Turning off system integrity protection requires modifying system security.
Allow booting unsigned operating system and any kernel extensions for OS “Macintosh HD”? [y/n]You enter Y> Then enter the password to open the device
Step 4: Check the returned result is Successfully disabled System Integrity Protection, then you have successfully disabled System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac. You don’t restart your Macbook by entering the reboot command, and then Enter is done.
Macbook M1 will return multiple lines but having System Integrity Protection is off is successful
How to Enable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac
To re-enable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac, you also enter Recovery mode as instructed above. Open Terminal and enter this command to ask to enable System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac.
csrutil clear
Hoặc
csrutil enable
When System Integrity Protection (SIP) is successful, Terminal will return the result Successfully enabled System Integrity Protection. You can continue to type reboot and Enter to restart the Macbook.
Conclusion
After disabling Gatekeeper (Enable Anywhere option) and disabling System Integrity Protection (SIP) on Mac, you can install any third-party application. And please note the selection of sources to download the installation file. How do you see this? Would you mind leaving your comments below in the comments section?
Hello, while I’m trying to disable Gatekeeper by typing spctl –master-disable I get “Permission denied”….
Hello, you need type “sudo ” at the begin.
OK, thanks! In the end I disabled neither Gatekeeper nor the SIP, but it worked, I was able to download Ps. :))
Hi, Does this work for Ventura too?
Yes, It should works
hi, i disabled gatekeeper and sip to download the adobe’s programs. after downloading them, can i re-enable both of them? thanks
Yes, you can re-enable again. But disable it if any error appears.
Hi! this works on Monterrey too?
Hello Lemabari! Yes, it works.
Hi,
I’m trying to install AdobePhotoshop 23.5.2 2 My Mac: M1 2020 macOS Ventura 13.0.1
Received the following error: Failed to launch task: The file “Setup” doesn’t exist.
Tried with Terminal: xattr -cr /Users/Dima/Desktop/Install\ PHSP_23.5.2-en_US-macuniversal.app nothing happened.
Could you please advice?
Please make sure you have installed Creative Cloud before installing any Adobe app.
Actually, Apple quietly changed the parameters to spctl. “–master-disable” and enable silently do nothing so people don’t notice the instructions no-longer work.
Instead, you need to use –global-enable and –global-disable, and you need to re-execute them after certain updates.
Thank you!
Trần Ngọc Minh Hiếu, have you revised the instructions above to address Oliver’s suggestion?