How to Grant Permissions to Applications on macOS When Not Listed in Settings

Introduction

On macOS, granting permissions to applications that access system resources like the microphone, camera, or calendar is typically done through the System Preferences interface. However, in some cases, certain applications may not appear in the permissions list, making it difficult to manually assign permissions. This guide explains how to use the tccplus tool to grant permissions to these applications quickly and effectively.

Why Some Applications Don’t Appear in System Preferences

Certain third-party applications, especially those installed manually or outside the App Store, may not register automatically in System Preferences. This can lead to situations where you need to grant permissions, but the application doesn’t appear in the relevant settings panel. tccplus is a command-line tool that helps resolve this issue by allowing you to manually assign the necessary permissions.

Detailed Instructions for Using tccplus

Step 1: Download and Install tccplus

You can download the tccplus tool from GitHub via this link: Download tccplus. After downloading, extract the file and place it in a memorable location on your system, such as ~/Documents/permission.

Step 2: Prepare and Grant Execution Permissions to tccplus

Open Terminal and navigate to the folder where tccplus is stored by running the following command:

cd ~/Documents/permission

Next, grant execution permissions to the tccplus file:

chmod +x tccplus

Step 3: Find the App ID of the Application

Each macOS application has a unique App ID. To grant permissions, you need to know the App ID of the application. Run the following command to find the App ID, replacing "Application Name" with the name of the application you want to grant permissions to (e.g., “NotchNook”):

osascript -e 'id of app "Application Name"'

The result will return the App ID, such as lo.cafe.NotchNook.

Step 4: Grant Permissions to the Application

Once you have the App ID, you can grant permissions to the application. Here are some examples of how to grant permissions for different resources:

• Grant Calendar Permission:

./tccplus add Calendar lo.cafe.NotchNook

• Grant Microphone Permission:

./tccplus add Microphone lo.cafe.NotchNook

• Grant Camera Permission:

./tccplus add Camera lo.cafe.NotchNook

Simply replace "lo.cafe.NotchNook" with your application’s App ID.

Step 5: Check and Manage Permissions

After successfully granting permissions, you can check or remove permissions for the application using the following commands:

• Check Application Permission:

./tccplus check Calendar lo.cafe.NotchNook

• Remove Application Permission:

./tccplus remove Calendar lo.cafe.NotchNook

Notes

1. tccplus requires administrator rights to grant permissions for applications.
2. Some permissions may require restarting the application to take effect after granting.