Deploy the desktop app on macOS

Available on Entry, Professional, Enterprise, and Enterprise Advanced plans

The desktop app is available for macOS in two ways:

• Mac App Store: Recommended for most users. It updates itself.
• DMG: A self-contained download for admins and power users who want to control which version is installed and when.

The rest of this page covers the DMG.

Install the DMG

1. Download the DMG for your devices from the GitHub releases page: mattermost-desktop-<version>-mac-universal.dmg for any Mac, or mac-arm64 for Apple silicon and mac-x64 for Intel Macs.
2. Open the DMG, and drag Mattermost to the Applications folder.
3. Optionally, configure policies.

The first time users start a call, share their screen, or receive a notification, macOS asks them to allow it. See Notifications, calls, and permissions if something doesn't work.

Configure policies

You can set the desktop app policies with a configuration profile deployed through your MDM solution. The profile sets keys in the Mattermost.Desktop preference domain:

Key	Type	Value
DefaultServerList	Array of dictionaries	Each dictionary has a name string and a url string.
EnableServerManagement	Boolean	false disables server management.
EnableAutoUpdater	Boolean	false disables update checks and notifications.
TrustedEmbeddedMediaOrigins	Array of dictionaries	Each dictionary has a serverOrigin string and an embeddedOrigin string.

Example settings:

<dict>
  <key>DefaultServerList</key>
  <array>
    <dict>
      <key>name</key>
      <string>Example</string>
      <key>url</key>
      <string>https://chat.example.com</string>
    </dict>
  </array>
  <key>EnableServerManagement</key>
  <false/>
  <key>EnableAutoUpdater</key>
  <false/>
</dict>

Frequently asked questions

How do I upgrade?

Quit Mattermost, then replace the app in the Applications folder with the new version.

Can I downgrade to an older version?

Downgrading the desktop app isn't supported. An older version may not be able to read configuration written by a newer version, which can cause user settings to be overwritten and data to be lost.

Can users switch between the Mac App Store and DMG versions?

The two versions store their data in different folders, so switching between them means signing in again and setting up servers and settings from scratch.

Does uninstalling remove users' data?

No. To remove it as well, you can delete the app data folder.

Why doesn't screen sharing work?

Try turning Mattermost off and on again in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording. If that doesn't help, you can reset the permission by running the following in Terminal, then sharing your screen again:

tccutil reset ScreenCapture Mattermost.Desktop