Fixing Apps That Fail to Launch After Mac Migration

Resolve application launch errors on your new Mac following a Migration Assistant transfer. Restore functionality with these terminal and setting fixes.

1. Update the affected applications. Open the App Store and select Updates from the sidebar. If the applications were migrated from a different architecture, such as Intel to Apple Silicon, they may require updates to function on the new hardware. Click Update All to ensure current versions are installed.
2. Reinstall non-App Store applications. Applications downloaded directly from developer websites often include security signatures that break during migration. Delete the corrupted application from the Applications folder, download the latest installer from the official developer website, and perform a clean reinstallation.
3. Repair disk permissions. Migration can occasionally result in incorrect user ownership of application support files. Open Terminal, type 'sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/Library/Application\ Support/', and press Enter. Enter your administrator password when prompted; the characters will not appear on screen as you type.
4. Check Gatekeeper security settings. Navigate to System Settings > Privacy & Security and scroll down to the Security section. Look for a message stating that an app was blocked from use because it is not from an identified developer. Click Open Anyway if you trust the application source.
5. Clear the application launch cache. Force the system to rebuild the application launch service database. Open Terminal and run 'sudo killall launchservicesd' followed by 'killall Dock'. This resets the application association table and resolves silent failures where an icon bounces but the window fails to render.