Ah yes, the infamous “will damage your computer” warning on macOS — that’s macOS Gatekeeper in action. It’s essentially your Mac trying to protect you from software it can’t verify, usually because the app is not notarized by Apple or appears suspiciously modified. But when the dialog won’t go away, or if clicking "OK" or "Show in Finder" does nothing, it's likely a deeper issue — possibly involving a stuck launch agent, corrupted quarantine attribute, or even malware pretending to be a Gatekeeper alert.
Since you haven't provided any details on what you have tried, so far, to remedy this, here are some steps you can try:
Force Close the Alert
- Open Activity Monitor (found in /Applications/Utilities/), and look for a process that looks suspicious, like:
- send
- Something unfamiliar that you don’t recognize
- Something constantly respawning
- Quit it (or force quit it if necessary). If the warning immediately pops back up, make a note of the process name.
Remove Launch Agents or Daemons
- It’s likely something is set to auto-launch the bad file. Check these folders:
~/Library/LaunchAgents/
~/Library/Application Support/
~/Library/LaunchDaemons/
Also check:
/Library/LaunchAgents/
/Library/LaunchDaemons/
Look for any .plist files or folders with names related to send, or anything you don’t recognize. If you find one, move it to your Desktop (don't delete it just yet).
Find the Source File
- Run this in Terminal to find the offending send binary or app:
sudo find / -name send 2>/dev/null
You’re looking for a binary or app bundle named "send". Once found, try removing it:
sudo rm -rf /path/to/send
Reset Gatekeeper Cache (Optional but Helpful)
- You can reset Gatekeeper’s database:
sudo spctl --master-disable
sudo spctl --master-enable
This disables and re-enables Gatekeeper, essentially resetting it.
