Error: The application 'Steam' can't be opened

[henryg]

If you receive an error message saying that 'Steam' can't be opened, please try the following steps. We believe that the issue is caused by new security features in OS X becoming confused by the Steam application's self-update feature.


First, try rebooting your Mac. The compatibility issue appears to be due to the update process itself, and may go away on a restart. OS X will only re-evaluate the security status of the Steam application after a system restart.


If the problem is not resolved, then try renaming the Steam application to anything else - for example, rename it to xSteam. Launch it once, and then quit. You can now rename it back to Steam after quitting, if this works.


The final possible workaorund is to perform a complete reinstallation of the Steam app (but not your downloaded games or save files). To do that, follow these steps:

- Drag the Steam application to the trash. If you are prompted to remove related content, choose to KEEP your content. This will ensure that all of your downloads and saved games are preserved. (If you are not prompted, then your saved games and downloads are safe and will not be affected.)

- Empty the trash.

- Go to Safari and, in the url bar, type "steam://flushconfig" (without the quotes) and press Return. Nothing much will happen, but this step is important so that OS X notices that the steam:// protocol handler has been removed.

- Restart (reboot) your mac. This step is also important, as it resets the OS X application cache.

- Now download Steam again from this website. Open the downloaded archive and drag Steam to your Applications folder again.

- Finally, launch Steam again.

[systemchalk]

And when the application doesn't launch normally with the same error message?

[PixelGuff]

I had the missing steamui.dylib error, so I reinstalled and got this error instead.

I followed these instructions and I'm still getting the "can't be opened" message.

[ArwEn*]

I've found this video from one of mac user and It worked perfectly for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJptx2hHNtQ&feature=youtu.be
All credit to the poster on youtube

[PixelGuff]

ArwEn*: I tried that first, and it got rid of the steamui.dylib issue, but I'm getting the "The application 'Steam' can't be opened." error now.

I've also tried removing Steam's folders from ~/Library/Application Support too before installing (so, doing a clean install) and it's still busted.

[ogdahl]

None of these are working for me. Downloaded and reinstalled a couple of times, restarted computer then reinstalled, same error message "Steam can't be opened" System = MacBook Pro 15" 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512 MB

[ArwEn*]

I had same "The application 'Steam' can't be opened" after installed steam.dmg and tried to open steam icon from the dock. I restarted my computer and all of sudden it works. It started to update and runs fine now.

I'm using iMac 27" late 2012 OSX 10.11.2

[PixelGuff]

OH! I fixed it!

From the terminal:

sh /Applications/Steam.app/Contents/MacOS/steam.sh

That runs the setup script manually, forcing it to update itself and unpack everything where it's supposed to go. For some reason, the launcher isn't doing it automatically.

Give that a try!

[noctrl]

lol

[ogdahl]

FWIW: Restarted computer again and launched app from dock instead of double click in finder. Now it works. Not sure if that was the trick or I just got lucky.

[PixelGuff]

ogdahl: Weird. I tried restarting a couple of times to no avail. Oh well, it works for me now! :)

[n,n.]

What if I can't open the downloaded archive? Steam.dmg just doesn't open :/

[suttonsatsuffolk]

After I downloaded I called the file "Steam 2" and it launched.
Steam 2 ran an update and then all was well.

[Timidtank]

PixelGuff: Thank you thank you it worked (90% of the way). After that I got a message saying steam was damaged and couldnt be opened.
At that point I used the advice from this thread http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/2/43099721656250997/?l=english
and voila its finally solved!

[HalfHead]

F##K this! Nothing works! I've tried it all!!

[76561198236802380]

Originally posted by PixelGuff:

OH! I fixed it!

From the terminal:

sh /Applications/Steam.app/Contents/MacOS/steam.sh

That runs the setup script manually, forcing it to update itself and unpack everything where it's supposed to go. For some reason, the launcher isn't doing it automatically.

Give that a try!

Thank you very Much, PixelGuff`s Solution worked for me, i can launch Steam now normaly.