Fix 'The application is not open anymore' error on Mac

When trying to open an app on Mac or open a file with an app on Mac, you may encounter the error reading "The application is not open anymore" despite the fact that the app may be open. Once the error appears, the app in question will become unresponsive and unusable.

According to users' reports, this error is not tied to a specific app but can occur on different applications. Here are some of the apps that have been affected by the error:

In this post, we'll share several useful tricks to help you eliminate the error and run your apps as usual.

If you want to swiftly fix the app that doesn't open on Mac, save your work, then uninstall and reinstall the software. To uninstall the application, you can use a reliable uninstaller like CleanMyApp. It helps you get rid of the app completely, without leaving traces behind, ensuring it won't cause trouble again.

Why does your MacBook say the application is not open anymore?

The error that reads "The application is not open anymore" is likely caused by software issues related to your operating system or the app itself. Your system may be having minor glitches, preventing you from opening the app. Or, some background processes or preferences files regarding the app may be corrupted, causing the app to be unresponsive.

How to fix 'The application is not open anymore' error on Mac?

If your app refuses to open itself or a file and gives you the error "The application is not open anymore," you can take the following solutions to resolve it.

⚙️ How to fix the application is not open anymore on MacBook and desktop Mac:

• Force quit the offending app
• Close the app in Activity Monitor
• Restart your Mac
• Open the app from Terminal
• Boot into Safe Mode
• Uninstall and reinstall the app
• Delete the app's preferences files
• Reinstall macOS

Force Quit the offending app

The first thing to try is to force quit the application that cannot be opened. Press Command +Option + Esc, then select the app and click Force Quit. After it's closed, you can reopen it again to see if it works.

Close the app in Activity Monitor

Alternatively, you can close the unresponsive app and its associated processes from Activity Monitor. Here's how to do it:

Restart your Mac

If you can't force quit the app, you can reboot your Mac instead. This has been proven to work for many users who have encountered the application not open anymore error. If your Mac is frozen, you can force it to shut down by pressing and holding the power button and then turning it on again.

Open the app from Terminal

Another workaround to try if you want to use the app immediately is to use Terminal. Note that you need to replace Safari in the command below with the name of the app you fail to open.

This command will launch the app and allow you to work with it as normal. If it doesn't do the trick, you can locate the app in Finder, right-click on it and select Duplicate, then open the duplicated app to use it.

Uninstall and reinstall the app

You can also eliminate the error as well as the The Application Appears to Have Been Tampered with error by uninstalling the troublesome app and reinstalling a clean version. We don't recommend you move the app to Trash, as that will cause a lot of app leftovers, which may continue to cause issues. Instead, you should completely uninstall the app with a tool like CleanMyApp.

This uninstaller can identify and delete a selected app's program file (the app), and the service files that keep it running as expected on your Mac. These files could be caches, logs, preference files, sandbox files, supporting files, and more. 

Here's how to fully uninstall apps on Mac:

Step 1: Download and install CleanMyApp.

Step 2: Launch the app, then select the application that's not working and click Uninstall.

Step 3: Click Continue uninstall to delete the app.

Boot into Safe Mode

If the error 'The application is not open anymore' persists, you can boot your Mac into Safe Mode to isolate third-party software that may have conflicts with the app. Safe Mode can also repair your internal hard drive and clear system caches. After entering Safe Mode, you can launch the problematic app, then reboot normally to see if it fixes the issue.

Delete the app's preferences files

Since the error is possibly caused by corrupted preferences files, you can delete those relevant to the app to resolve the issue. These files will be re-generated the next time you open the app.

Reinstall macOS

If none of the above solutions can eliminate the "The application is not open anymore" error, consider reinstalling macOS from Recovery Mode. This won't erase your data on Mac but only replace the existing system file with a fresh copy of macOS.

If you have resolved the "the application is not open anymore" error on Mac, please share this post!