Downloads

What you will see“Apple could not verify “Chop” is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.”

1. Install it as usualOpen the .dmg you downloaded and drag Chop into your Applications folder, then eject the disk image. Nothing unusual happens yet.
2. Open Chop once, and let macOS refuseDouble-click Chop in Applications. macOS shows the warning above, offering only Done and Move to Trash. Click Done. This step is not optional — the next one only becomes available after a blocked launch.

3. Allow it in System SettingsOpen System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll to the bottom of the Security section. There is a line reading “Chop was blocked to protect your Mac”. Click Open Anyway.

4. Confirm, and you are doneAuthenticate with Touch ID or your password, then click Open Anyway once more. Chop opens. Every launch after this one is an ordinary double-click — you never see any of this again.
5. Allow Screen RecordingThe first capture asks for Screen Recording permission, which macOS requires of anything that can see your screen. Switch Chop on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording, then quit and reopen Chop so it picks the grant up.

• The Open Anyway button only appears for about an hour after a blocked launch. If it is not there, open Chop again first and go straight back to Settings.
• On macOS 14 and earlier there is a shortcut: Control-click Chop in Applications, choose Open, then Open again in the dialog. macOS 15 removed it, which is why the long way round is written out above.
• If macOS says Chop is damaged and should be moved to the Trash, click Cancel — not Move to Trash — then use Open Anyway in Privacy & Security as above. That dialog is Gatekeeper, not a corrupt download.

What you will see“Windows protected your PC — Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognised app from starting.”

1. Keep the downloadEdge and Chrome sometimes flag the file as it lands. If yours does, open the browser’s downloads list and choose Keep, then Keep anyway if it asks a second time.
2. Run the installerDouble-click the .exe you downloaded. SmartScreen shows the panel above, offering nothing but a Don’t run button.
3. Click More infoIt is the small link under the message, easy to miss. Clicking it names the app and its publisher — which will say Unknown publisher.

4. Click Run anywayThe button appears once More info is expanded. The installer runs normally from there, and Ctrl+Shift+2 works as soon as Chop is open. Windows asks for no capture permission.

• Unknown publisher is what SmartScreen calls any installer without a paid code-signing certificate. It is a statement about the certificate, not about the file.
• If there is no Run anyway button at all, a policy on your machine is blocking unsigned installers outright. On a work computer that is your IT administrator’s call, not something to work around.