If you just installed SQL Developer on a Mac, but you’re getting an error when trying to launch it, try the steps below to fix it.

The error reads “The application “SQLDeveloper.app” can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software“. It also mentions that “This software needs to be updated. Contact the developer for more information“.

Below are the steps I used to overcome this issue, and launch SQL Developer.

After installing SQL Developer, I immediately tried to launch it by double clicking its icon in Finder. But instead of launching the application, my Mac presented me with the following message:

When I got this message, I immediately went into the General tab of the Security & Privacy option in my Mac’s System Preferences to allow this application to run. However, this still didn’t fix the issue.

It seems to be a common issue, because a quick web search found other developers with the same issue. There appears to be a couple of ways to overcome this issue.

Option 1

I was able to get it to run by opening a Terminal window and running the following commands.

Change to the appropriate directory:

cd /Applications/SQLDeveloper.app/Contents/resources/sqldeveloper

(if you put the file in a folder other than Applications, replace Applications with that folder/path).

Run SQL Developer:

zsh sqldeveloper.sh

Running that command launches SQL Developer.

Option 2

Although I was able to launch SQL Developer with that command, I also wanted to be able to launch it by double clicking on the icon in Finder.

The following steps enabled me to be able to do that.

Run the following command in a Terminal window:

/usr/libexec/java_home -V

That returned the following:

Matching Java Virtual Machines (2):
    1.8.291.10 (x86_64) "Oracle Corporation" - "Java" /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home
    1.8.0_291 (x86_64) "Oracle Corporation" - "Java SE 8" /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_291.jdk/Contents/Home
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home

To fix the problem, I ran this:

sudo rm -rf "/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/"

And entered my password at the prompt.

Running the first command again:

/usr/libexec/java_home -V

Now returns the following:

Matching Java Virtual Machines (1):
    1.8.0_291 (x86_64) "Oracle Corporation" - "Java SE 8" /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_291.jdk/Contents/Home
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_291.jdk/Contents/Home

After doing that, I was able to launch SQL Developer by double clicking its icon in Finder.