One area where Mac has really grown in popularity in recent years is gaming. Apple has gone to great lengths to improve gameplay with technologies like Metal and to promote Mac as a games platform. The result is that more and more people are playing games on Mac, and more and more developers are releasing games for it. One of those developers is EA, known for, among other things, its sports franchises. EA has its own distribution platform for its Mac games — Origin. Most of the time, it works very well; occasionally, however, things go wrong. In this article, we’ll explain how to fix it if Origin won’t open on your Mac.

What is Origin on Mac?

Origin is EA’s platform for downloading EA games and playing them on your Mac. It’s a bit like Steam, except that it’s only for EA games. Once you’ve created an account with EA, you can log in to the Origin app, buy games, and download them. Origin handles the authentication and permissions, allowing you to get started playing straight away.

Why won’t Origin open on my Mac?

There are a number of possible reasons why Origin won’t open on your Mac. It could be a bug in the Origin application, a problem with macOS, or a conflict with other files on your Mac, to name a few things. To fix it, we need to find the cause, which means eliminating possibilities one at a time until we find it. Once that’s done, it can be fixed fairly easily. It makes sense to start with the most likely causes and those that can be easily fixed and then move on from there. So, that’s what we’ll do.

How to fix it when Origin won’t open on your Mac

1. Force Quit Origin

    If you haven’t already done so, and Origin is still bouncing in the Dock but not opening, right-click or Control-click on its icon in the Dock and choose Force Quit. Then, try to open it again. Or use Force Quit from the main Apple menu.

    2. Restart your Mac

      If that doesn’t work, restart your Mac. Restarting clears out temporary files, frees up RAM, and performs checks on your startup disk. Often, it’s all you need to do to fix a problem like this one.

      3. Try the Origin reset tool

        EA has a diagnostics tool for Origin that some users have reported has fixed issues with Origin on their Mac. You can find the reset tool and instructions on how to use it on EA’s support website here.

        Tip: How to reset Origin and any app on your Mac the easy way

        Resetting an app is a good way of attempting to fix it. Resetting means deleting settings and preferences files that may have become corrupted, forcing the app to create new ones when it next opens. Resetting an app manually is difficult because you need to track down all the settings files and delete them. However, you don’t have to do it manually; CleanMyMac X’s Uninstaller module can do it for you. Instead of uninstalling an app completely, you can choose the Reset option, which removes those files while leaving the app in place. You can download CleanMyMac X for free here.

        Safari reset selected in the Uninstaller module in CMM


        4. Check for an update to Origin

          Go to EA’s support website and look for the most recent version of Origin. If it’s newer than the one you have installed, that may be the problem. If so, download the newer version. Before you install it, jump to step 6 and uninstall the version you currently have on your Mac.

          5. Check for an update to macOS

            If the problem is being caused by an issue with macOS, it may have been fixed in a recent update. To check, follow these steps:

            1. Go to System Settings and choose General > Software Update.
            2. Wait for it to check, and if there is an update available, follow the instructions on the screen to install it.
            System Preferences - Software Update

            6. Reinstall Origin

              The last step, if nothing else works, is to reinstall Origin. Before you do that, though, you should uninstall the version on your Mac. The easiest way to do that is to use CleanMyMac X’s Uninstaller module:

              1. Open CleanMyMac X.
              2. Select the Uninstaller module in the sidebar.
              3. Locate Origin in the list of apps, select it, and click Uninstall at the bottom of the window.
              All apps selected in the Uninstaller module of CMM

              Origin is an app for downloading and playing EA games on your Mac. If it doesn’t work properly, it could prevent you from playing games you’ve purchased. Follow the steps above to fix it and hopefully, you’re no longer asking, “why won’t Origin open on Mac?”. And if you have other issues with the app, check out these articles on how to fix it if Origin won’t work and how to clear Origin cache on Mac.