"Apple could not verify <file> if free of malware" on macOS

[setupOkay]

This issue is not really new, I just couldn’t find it in this forum, so I thought I’d start a thread and see if anyone has a workaround.

The issue: since macOS Sequoia, one cannot “open files with”. It’s not true for all files and all apps, but it’s true for docx, xlsx, MS Office and LibreOffice at least.

The workaround is to do “info” on the file, then configure it to always open with the app in question. (“open with” => Excel, then click “Change All…”)

Now, why that workaround does not work for me: I have some xlsx files which I want to open with LibreOffice. (long story, but converting them leads to somehow very poor performance on some other software which I have no control over, hence they must remain xlsx)

Wondering if anyone is in the same boat and maybe found some creative way around it.

[Wanderer]

@setupOkay

maybe found some creative way around it.

Maybe use xattr as described here:

How to fix the “macOS cannot verify that this app is free from malware” error

[setupOkay]

You’re a genius.

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine <filepath> for anyone else.

Still annoying, as you must do it per file, but at least I do not have to open libreoffice first, then select “open file…” and navigate to the file in question.

[Wanderer]

You may give more than one file.
My first google hit for man xattr macos was this. You may try patterns like *.xlsx but in unix-like systems the expansion is done in the shell…

https://ss64.com/mac/xattr.html