macOS: How to See Which Mac Apps are 32-Bit

You may have heard that Apple plans to stop support for 32-bit apps across iOS and macOS. While iOS 11 will remove them this fall, macOS will continue to support them until 2019. Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to start early and find the 32-bit Mac apps. Read on to learn how to see which apps on your Mac are still 32-bit.

If you find that the software you rely on the most are 32-bit, contact the developer and see if they plan to update to 64-bit. I’m sure most developers will, but older software may not get this support, so you might have to start finding alternatives. Here’s how to figure out which apps are 32-bit.
Clicking on system report will bring up a list of 32 bit Mac apps.

Find 32-Bit Mac Apps

  • On the desktop, click on the Apple logo () at the upper left of the screen.
  • Click About This Mac.
  • In the window that pops up, click System Report.
  • Next, in the System Information app that this brings up, find Applications under Software in the left menu.
  • Click on Applications, and your Mac will take a few seconds to compile the list.
  • Once it’s finished, scroll sideways to right until you see the header 64-bit (Intel).

Image of system information window to find 32 bit Mac apps.

Apps will have a Yes/No designation to determine whether they are 32-bit Mac apps or not. “Yes” means they’re 64-bit and “No” means they’re 32-bit.

Many of the items in the list will be from Apple; you don’t need to worry about those. Instead, look for the ones that say Identified Developer.

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