Files saved from Quicktime with Export Audio Only can't be opened (error message)

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Level 1

31 points

Files saved from Quicktime with Export Audio Only can't be opened (error message)

Because there doesn't seem to be a way to record just sound from a website without downloading other stuff and doing something fancy, I'm using QuickTime to do a screen recording, and then using Export Audio Only to get an M4A with just the sound. I've done this before with no difficulty, but now when I create and try to open a file of this type, whether with QuickTime, iTunes, or even VLC which normally opens EVERYTHING, I get an error message:

"az.m4a" can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer

To make this even crazier, I exported a SECOND audio file from the same video screen capture, and the first time I clicked on it, it opened and played fine in iTunes, I deleted it from there, changed it to opening automatically in QuickTime, it opened and played fine again, so I assumed that there'd just been some sort of error in creating the first audio file… But when I went back later and tried to open the new file that had previously worked fine, it gave the SAME error message!

Nothing has been added, changed, or deleted from the system on my desktop since the last time I did this with no problems. The computer has been restarted to no avail. Does anyone have any ideas on what the heck is going on here? Thanks!

Mojave 10.14.6

QuickTime 10.5

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jun 22, 2024 9:24 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 23, 2024 1:30 AM in response to ImaSoCalGal

… changed it to opening automatically in QuickTime, it opened and played fine again

Locate any (other) .m4a file. Do a Get Info (⌘I) in Finder. In the Info window, find the ‘Open with’ section. (For your setup, it might not be set to an app that plays audio files.) Change it setting to QuickTime Player, or any other audio player that you would like to use by default. Next, click the ‘Change All’ button, to apply this new linked default app to all files with the same filename extension (instead of just this one file).

If the issue persists after that, then the macOS database that holds these settings may be corrupted somehow, and a deeper reset is needed.

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Answer 2

ImaSoCalGal Author

Level 1

31 points

Jun 25, 2024 8:53 AM in response to Urquhart1244

I've got a bunch of files where I've individually selected where to open them depending on their usage… Before I screwed up the settings on a ton of files, someone suggested that I change the default application on the file in question back to the original one, iTunes, and I did… And now it opens again everywhere, just fine!

So now my question becomes… What the heck is happening, and what needs to be done for a file of this type to open in any appropriate application regardless of what the original default application was? Thank you!

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