Fixing the “Civilization 6 is Damaged” Error on Mac

Civilization 6 may be an older strategy game, but it retains immense popularity and replay value for fans of the Civilization franchise. If you’re a Mac gamer who has Civilization VI (Civilization 6 for those who aren’t fans of roman numerals), you might have come across a situation where you go to play Civilization 6 and discover an error message that prevents the game from launching. The error says something like: ‘”Civilization Vl.app” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash. This file was downloaded on an unknown date.’ with two options; Move to Trash, and Cancel.

If you see the Civilization 6 is Damaged error on MacOS and can not play the game, here’s how to fix that error message and play the fun strategy game again on your Mac. And yes this works in macOS Tahoe too.

How to Fix Civilization 6 is Damaged Error in MacOS

We’re assuming you have Civilization 6 downloaded and installed through Steam, in which case here is how you can fix the game and get it to run again:

1. Open “Steam” and update Civilization 6 to the latest available version *
2. Choose “Play” from the Steam app



3. This is when you’ll typically see the “Civilization VI is Damaged” error message, ignore it and open “System Settings” from the  Apple menu



4. In System Settings, go to “Privacy & Security” and scroll down until you see the ‘”Civilization VI.app” was blocked to protect your Mac’ text, and choose “Open Anyway”



5. You might need to use Touch ID or authenticate with an admin password, you’ll now see the same warning dialog but there will be an additional “Open” option, click on that to launch Civilization 6 successfully



6. Play Civilization 6 as usual, enjoy

* If simply updating the game doesn’t work, then try using Steam for uninstalling Civilization 6 and reinstalling the game again through Steam, then run through the steps again. For most users simply updating the game is sufficient, though some report needing to reinstall the game.

I ran into this issue recently while opening Civilization VI on a M-series Apple Silicon Mac running macOS Tahoe 26, I hadn’t played the game in quite some time and I was initially concerned the game was no longer playable on either on the newest system software, or perhaps even the new chip architecture. It turns out neither is the case, and the game remains highly playable on both, once you run through the steps above to get the game updated and working again.

The Civilization series is one of those games that is an immense time warp, where you can lose many hours in the Risk-like world strategy game as you build up an entire civilization and engage in discovery, diplomacy, war, and world domination. Even the older versions like Civ 6 (and Civ 5!) remain fantastic and nearly infinitely replayable for good reason, they really are just fun games to play, even for those who are not traditional gamer types.