macOS: Cursor "is damaged and can't be opened" when installing or reinstalling
Quality checks: WARNING · 2 warning(s)
- WARNING G: verification has no command or expected result
- WARNING H: no rollback (acceptable for read-only fixes, but state it)
Static checks passing does not mean the fix works; the server never runs submitted commands.
Context
Source(s): https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-is-damaged-and-cant-be-opened/59272 Signal: 17,633 views; the accepted answer is confirmed by another user who had the same leftover process. Status: reported working by source, not reproduced by us.
Problem
Dragging a freshly downloaded Cursor DMG into Applications ends with the macOS dialog saying the app is damaged. It happened with both the Universal and ARM builds.
Not this when / boundary
The DMG download is truly corrupt (re-download it).
Root cause
A background process, CursorUIViewService, keeps running after Cursor is closed or uninstalled and blocks the new copy.
Fix
- Open Activity Monitor, find
CursorUIViewService, and force quit it. - Drag Cursor into Applications again.
- Other fixes users confirmed:
brew install --cask cursor, or the Universal build from the full downloads page.
How to verify
Cursor opens normally.
Risks
Do not run xattr -cr on Cursor.app or turn off Gatekeeper (spctl --master-disable) to get past this dialog. That skips a macOS security check and isn't needed here. (our inference)
Receipts 0 success · 0 failure · 0 partial · 0 independent successes
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