macOS Wrangling
2026-04-15
I hate this goddamned OS so much.
— Zane van Iperen, almost every other day.
Quarantine Bit Commands
The quarantine bit (com.apple.quarantine) is an extended attribute that macOS applies to downloaded files as a blantant attempt to force people to pay the $99 Apple Developer Taxsecurity measure. When extracting a zip, macOS typically re-applies the quarantine bit.
Remove quarantine bit from a file
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View quarantine bit (and other extended attributes)
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Remove quarantine bit recursively from directory
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Allow dragging windows with Ctrl+Cmd
defaults write -g NSWindowShouldDragOnGesture -bool true
You’ll need to restart the entire application, i.e. Cmd+Q it.