Tradovate Mac 'Install and Relaunch' Does Nothing
Click Install and Relaunch on the Mac desktop app and nothing happens, no progress bar, no restart, no error. Here's why the in-app updater goes quiet on macOS and the manual install that always works.
The Tradovate desktop app pops up a little banner telling you a new version is ready, with a friendly Install and Relaunch button. You click it, expecting the app to swap itself for the update and restart. Instead, nothing happens. No progress bar, no restart, no error. The banner might vanish for a second and come right back on the next launch, still nagging you to install a version that never actually installs. On macOS specifically, that button can be completely inert.
Good news: this is a cosmetic dead end, not a broken account or a corrupted install. The updater is failing quietly for reasons that are well understood on the Mac, and the workaround is simple and reliable. Skip the in-app button entirely, download the current desktop build straight from Tradovate's site, and drop it into your Applications folder. Below is the exact sequence, why the button stalls, and the one setting that makes future updates actually stick.
Quick checklist to get on the latest version
- Don't fight the button. If Install and Relaunch does nothing once, it'll keep doing nothing. Move on to a manual install.
- Download the current Mac build from the official devices page at tradovate.com/devices (the “Download Mac” link).
- Quit the app fully with Command-Q before you replace it. A running copy can't overwrite itself.
- Drag Tradovate into Applications, replacing the old copy when macOS prompts.
- Launch it from Applications, not from the disk image or Downloads. This is what lets future updates work.
- Approve it in Gatekeeper if macOS flags a newly downloaded app: right-click, Open, confirm once.
- Manage open trades from the web platform or mobile while the desktop app is closed. Your orders stay live on Tradovate's servers.
What's Actually Happening When the Button Dies
The Tradovate desktop app ships with an auto-updater, the same kind of built-in mechanism most cross-platform desktop apps use. When a new version lands, the updater downloads the package in the background and then offers to install it and relaunch. On Windows that quiet in-place swap usually goes off without a hitch. On macOS it's fussier, and there are a few common reasons the click lands on a dead button.
The big one is where the app is running from. macOS auto-updaters generally can only rewrite an app that lives in the Applications folder. If you ever opened Tradovate straight out of the mounted disk image, or left it sitting in Downloads or on the Desktop and ran it from there, the updater has no writable home to install into, so it silently gives up. No permission prompt, no error dialog, just a button that does nothing.
The second is Gatekeeper and the quarantine flag. Anything you download gets tagged with a quarantine attribute that macOS uses to gate what's allowed to run, and that flag, along with the app's code signature and folder permissions, can block the updater from quietly replacing files. A third, more mundane cause: the update package didn't finish downloading cleanly, so there's nothing valid to install even though the button is showing.
None of this touches your trading. The desktop app is just a window into an account that lives entirely on Tradovate's servers, so wiping the old app and dropping in a fresh one is completely safe.
The fastest route past this is to stop treating the in-app updater as the only way to update. A manual download from the official site is the same version the button was trying to fetch, just installed by hand in a way macOS is happy with.
Fix It: Download the Build and Install It by Hand
Download the current Mac build
Open a browser and go to tradovate.com/devices. That page lists every way to run the platform: web, Windows, Mac, and the mobile apps. Click Download Mac to pull the current desktop build. Grab it from Tradovate's own site rather than a third-party download mirror, so you know it's a current, untampered installer. The file comes down as a disk image (a .dmg) in your Downloads folder.
Quit the old app completely
Before you replace anything, fully quit the running copy of Tradovate. Clicking the red close button on the window isn't enough; the app is often still alive in the background. Use Command-Q with Tradovate focused, or right-click its icon in the Dock and choose Quit. A copy that's still running can't be overwritten, and trying to replace it while it's open is a common reason the swap fails halfway.
Drag the new app into Applications
Double-click the downloaded .dmg to mount it. A window opens showing the Tradovate app icon, usually next to a shortcut to your Applications folder. Drag the Tradovate icon onto the Applications folder. When macOS asks whether you want to replace the existing item, choose Replace so the new build overwrites the old one. This is the single most important detail on the whole page: install it into Applications, and run it from there.
Open it from Applications and sign in
Open your Applications folder and launch Tradovate from there. Sign in with your Tradovate or prop-firm credentials, and your accounts, layouts, and positions sync straight back down from the server. That's the whole fix. You're on the current build, and because the app now lives in the right place, the next update it offers has a real chance of installing on its own.
That same devices page also links the streaming web platform, which always runs the newest version in your browser with nothing to download, a solid fallback if the updater keeps giving you trouble.
When the copy finishes, eject the disk image (drag it to the Trash or click the eject arrow next to it in Finder), and delete the .dmg from Downloads so you don't accidentally run the app out of a mounted image again later.
If macOS Blocks the New App
Because you just downloaded it, macOS may throw up a Gatekeeper warning the first time you open it, something like “Tradovate can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer” or “macOS cannot verify the developer.” That's expected for a freshly downloaded app and it's a one-time approval, not a sign anything's wrong.
To clear it, right-click (or Control-click) the Tradovate app in Applications and choose Open, then confirm Open in the dialog. Opening it this way tells macOS you trust it, and you won't be asked again. If the standard double-click still refuses to launch, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the Security section, and look for an Open Anyway button tied to Tradovate. Click that, and it'll launch. The exact wording of these prompts shifts between macOS releases, so if a label reads a little differently on your version, look for the closest equivalent that lets you approve the app.
Why the In-App Updater Keeps Failing (and How to Stop It)
If you've been fighting a dead Install and Relaunch button for a while, the odds are very good the old app was never in Applications to begin with. Plenty of people run a Mac app for months straight out of the disk image or the Downloads folder without realizing it, and everything works fine right up until the day an update needs to install. From a read-only or non-standard location, the updater simply can't rewrite the app, so every future update quietly no-ops.
Moving the app into Applications once, as in the steps above, fixes that going forward. From its proper home, the updater has somewhere writable to install into, and the flow starts behaving. If it ever stalls again, you know the escape hatch: quit, download the current build, and drop it in.
Manage Your Risk While the App Is Closed
Quitting the desktop app to swap it does not cancel a single order. Every stop and target you've placed is resting on Tradovate's servers and keeps working no matter what's open on your Mac. If you're in a live position when you go to update, don't leave yourself blind: open the Tradovate web platform in a browser or the mobile app on your phone, and you'll see the identical account with full control to modify or flatten. Treat the desktop app as one of several windows into your account, never the only door in.
Troubleshooting Table
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Install and Relaunch does nothing, no error | App isn't in Applications, so the updater can't write | Download the current build from tradovate.com/devices and drag it into Applications |
| Update banner returns on every launch | Update never actually installed | Quit fully with Command-Q, then do a clean manual install |
| “Can't be opened / unidentified developer” | Gatekeeper flagging a freshly downloaded app | Right-click the app → Open → confirm, or use Privacy & Security → Open Anyway |
| Replace step fails or hangs | Old copy still running in the background | Command-Q or Dock → Quit before replacing, then retry |
| Every future update fails the same way | App is being run from the disk image or Downloads | Install into Applications and always launch it from there |
| App won't run at all after the update | Unsupported or outdated macOS version | Confirm your macOS meets the current minimum and update the OS if needed |
Keep Trading Even When the Desktop App Won't Cooperate
If a stuck updater has ever left you second-guessing whether a trade went through, the answer is to stop leaning on any one client staying open. PickMyTrade links your TradingView alerts straight to Tradovate and runs the execution on our servers, so your strategy fires whether or not the desktop app is open, updated, or even installed:
- Server-side execution, alerts route from TradingView to Tradovate through our infrastructure, so a closed or mid-update desktop app never stops an entry or an exit from going through.
- Device independence, nothing hinges on the Mac app being on the latest build. Your trades fire from the alert, not from whichever client happens to be running.
- Stops and targets that stick, SL/TP defined in the alert are placed on Tradovate no matter what app you have open, so protection doesn't depend on a working updater.
- Multi-account sync, mirror the same orders across every connected account at once, so no account sits unmanaged while you reinstall a desktop app.
Keep Trading No Matter What Your Desktop App Is Doing
PickMyTrade runs execution on our servers, so your strategy fires whether or not the Mac desktop app is open, updated, or even installed.
Start Your Free 5-Day TrialFrequently Asked Questions
The desktop app's built-in auto-updater tries to swap the running app for a newer copy and restart it, but on macOS that quiet in-place swap fails silently when the app isn't running from the Applications folder, when Gatekeeper has the file quarantined, or when the update package didn't download cleanly. Instead of an error, you just get a dead button. The reliable fix is to skip the in-app updater and install the latest build manually from the official download page.
Go to tradovate.com/devices and click Download Mac to pull the current desktop build. Quit the running app completely with Command-Q, open the downloaded disk image, and drag Tradovate into your Applications folder, replacing the old copy when macOS asks. Launch it from Applications and you're on the latest version, no in-app button required.
No. The desktop app is just a viewer into your account. Your balance, working orders, open positions, and saved workspaces live on Tradovate's servers, not inside the app file on your Mac. Replacing the app and signing back in brings everything down exactly as it was.
From the official devices page at tradovate.com/devices, which lists a Download Mac link for the macOS desktop build alongside the Windows, web, and mobile options. Always pull the installer from Tradovate's own site rather than a third-party mirror, so you get a current, untampered build.
The most common cause is running the app from somewhere other than the Applications folder, like the Downloads folder, the Desktop, or straight out of the mounted disk image. Auto-updaters on macOS generally can't rewrite an app that isn't sitting in Applications, so the update silently no-ops. Move the app into Applications once and future in-app updates have a much better chance of working.
That's Gatekeeper flagging a freshly downloaded app. Right-click (or Control-click) the Tradovate app in Applications, choose Open, and confirm Open in the dialog. You only have to approve it once. If macOS still blocks it, check System Settings under Privacy and Security for an Open Anyway button tied to the app.
Yes. Open the Tradovate web platform in a browser or use the mobile app, and you'll see the same account with full control. Your stops and targets are resting on Tradovate's servers the entire time, so a closed desktop app doesn't leave a position unmanaged while you swap in the new build.
You can trade the full account from the streaming web platform in any modern browser, so the desktop app is a convenience, not a requirement. If the updater keeps giving you trouble, the browser platform is a perfectly good day-to-day home and it's always on the latest version automatically.
This guide is for educational and informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading futures and other leveraged products carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. PickMyTrade is an independent third-party automation platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tradovate, Inc. or Bookmap. All related names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Platform features and steps change over time, so always confirm the current process in the official platform documentation before acting.