Mac OS – An application has no access to internet

Mac OS – An application has no access to internet

Problem

A Mac user encounters a problem where a particular application does not have access to Internet.  Other applications do have Internet access. 


Applies to

  1. Mac OS


Resolution

Many applications rely on an active internet connection for some part of their functionality, if the Mac OS firewall or a third party equivalent is active, their incoming connections may be blocked and stops the app from operating as normal.   Please use the steps below to check and resolve problems with the built in Firewall to fix the problem.


  1. Click Apple Symbol > System Settings.
  2. In the new window click search and enter the word firewall, then click Network.
  3. On the right hand pane of the window click the arrow to the right of Firewall entry.
  4. The firewall should dhow its state as being turned on already.
  5. Then click Options button, on the next window.  A list of applications that are allowed communication through the firewall are displayed.
  6. Scroll down through the list to check if the installed app is listed.  if there is a green dot to the right and Allow Incoming Connection is displayed skip the rest of these instructions, you may need to check if a third party security tool is preventing the app communication.
  7. If the application you need is not listed click the Plus sign button at the bottom left of the list, then scroll through the list of available apps to select it in the Applications folder and click Open.  The application  will be added with allowing incoming connections.
  8. If the application is listed but there is a red dot click the arrows to the right of Block Incoming Connections and then select Allow Incoming Connections and then close the window.
  9. Close and restart the application and check if it now works as expected.


Notes
Note
On some earlier versions of Mac OS System Settings may be replaced by System Preferences.