Question :

I’ve been using Password Dragon passwordmanager for years and I’m very satisfied with it. But since I’ve upgraded my Mac to macOS 10.15 Catalina, it won’t run anymore.

I’ve called Apple Support and they’ve told me that it is because it’s a Java-app, not a true macOS-app, an that they’re not supporting that…

I desperately need acces to my passwords in Password Dragon…

What can I do ?

Answer :

The fact that it’s a Java-based app is not the real problem (as long as you have the latest version on Java installed on your Mac). The real problem is that since macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS has very strict security and privacy settings (compared to any previous version of macOS, OSX or MacOSX).

To get Password Dragon running in macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer, do this :

• click on the Apple-icon in the top menu bar
• in the pulldown menu, click on “System Preferences”
• when the “System Preferences” window opens, make sure you are in the main window (if not, click on the ‘dots-on-a-grid’-button in the top bar)
• click on the Java-icon
• in the Java Control Panel window that opens, select the Update-tab
• then click on the ‘Update Now’-button and put a checkmark at “Check for updates automatically”
• when you are told that you are running the latest version of Java, go back to the main System Preferences window (by clicking on the ‘dots-on-a-grid’-button in the top bar)
• in the System Preferences window, click on Security & Privacy (the iron Home icon with the circular dial in it)
• in the Security & Privacy window, click on the ‘Privacy’tab
• then, in the list on the left, click on ‘Files and Folders’
• in the list that appears on the right, scroll down to ‘java’ and make sure there’s a checkmark in the check box at “Documents Folder”
• now, close the System Preferences window and open the PasswordDragon.app

That’s it !

enjoy 😉