Installing the CA Secure Browser for Mac

Installing the CA Secure Browser for Mac Link to this section

If you have a Personal Mac (Apple) Computer

Requires Mac operating system requirements: OS X 10.11 or macOS 10.12 through 10.16.

A Mac computer requires that certain settings are turned off so it can run the secure browser. To get your Mac computer ready for the Secure Browser, you need to BOTH (1) install the Secure Profile to automatically change some settings AND (2) turn off a few settings manually. After doing BOTH (1) and (2), you can proceed to (3) installing the Secure Browser.

I. To Install the Secure Profile for a Mac:

  1. Click this link to download a secure profile for Mac. 
  2. If prompted for a download location, select the Desktop
    Note: when you download the file, you may see a warning about downloading potentially harmful files from the internet, but the secure browser program is safe to download and run.
  3. Locate and double-click the installation file that was downloaded (named mac-os-assessment-config-2.mobileconfig) to run it.
  4. In the Profiles window that appears, select the [Continue] button.
  5. On the next screen, select the [Install] button
  6. You may be prompted to enter an administrator’s password that will allow the program to make changes; enter the administrator’s password (this is the password you have set up on your device) and then select the [OK] button.

II. To Turn Off Other Settings Manually

Take these steps to turn off some settings that might interfere with the secure browser:

1. Turn off third-party app updates.

  • Select the Apple menu → System Preferences → App Store. Depending on your operating system version, you may instead need to navigate to Software Updates → Advanced to find the settings in the next step.
  • Check the “Automatically check for updates” box.
  • Clear the Download newly available updates in the background checkbox.
  • Clear the Install app updates checkbox.
  • Check the Install system data files and security updates box.

2. Turn off iTunes updates. Note: If the computer has a newer operating system that uses the Apple Music app, you do not have to change this setting.

  • Start iTunes
  • Select iTunes → Preferences.
  • Under the [Advanced] tab, clear the Check for new software updates automatically checkbox.

3. Turn off Fast User Switching.

  • To turn off fast user switching, select the Apple menu → System Preferences → [Users & Groups] button.
  • If the padlock icon in the lower-left corner of the Users & Groups window shows as locked, select it and enter the password of the user with administrator privileges.
  • Select the [Login Options] button and uncheck the Show fast user switching menu as… box.
You have now configured all the needed settings and can proceed to install the secure browser on a Mac!

III. To Install the Secure Browser

  1. Click this link to download the Secure Browser for Mac.
  2. If prompted for a download location, select the desktop. Note: when you download the file, you may see a warning about downloading potentially harmful files from the internet, but the secure browser program is safe to download and run.
  3. Locate and double-click the installation file that was downloaded (named CASecureBrowserX.X-YYYY-MM-DD.msi). (The X.X-YYYY-MM-DD will fill in the date that you downloaded the browser file)
  4. To install the program, drag the [CASecureBrowser] icon into the applications folder.
  5. Navigate to the Launchpad or Applications in a Finder window and double-click the CASecureBrowser icon to launch the secure browser.

This page was last updated on July 6, 2022