# Building macOS version on Windows

**URL:** <https://forum.xojo.com/t/building-macos-version-on-windows/73772>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [December 20, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/building-macos-version-on-windows/73772 "2022-12-20T17:38:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ron\_Bower](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/ron_bower/32/4657_2.png) [@Ron\_Bower](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Ron_Bower)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/building-macos-version-on-windows/73772/1 "2022-12-20T17:38:31Z")

</div>

Last June I used Xojo 2022r1.1 to build a Universal macOS app on a Win 10 PC and was able to extract the App folder from the TAR into a zip file.

Today when i tried the same thing I got an error regarding a missing privilege. The error window is attached.

 ![Mac App Copy Error](https://forum.xojo.com/uploads/default/original/2X/a/a928718399a1bb0f293d9a3cb44ed86dce5240b9.jpeg)

Any ideas how to fix this ?

Ron Bower  
Ellicott City, MD

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tim\_Parnell](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/tim_parnell/32/161_2.png) [@Tim\_Parnell](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Tim_Parnell)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/building-macos-version-on-windows/73772/2 "2022-12-20T17:47:55Z")

</div>

> [@Ron\_Bower](#):
>
> able to extract the App folder from the TAR into a zip file.

Windows doesn’t support the linking technology macOS uses. You _aren’t_ supposed to do this. If you untar the output from Xojo on Windows, you break the Mac app and can’t send it to a Mac user. You have to send the tar to Mac for handling.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rick\_Araujo](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/rick_araujo/32/251_2.png) [@Rick\_Araujo](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Rick_Araujo)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/building-macos-version-on-windows/73772/3 "2022-12-20T17:54:28Z")

</div>

> [@Ron\_Bower](#):
>
> was able to extract the App folder from the TAR into a zip file.

Why? The tar file contains all the structures and flags macOS needs, extracting it in a PC will get those properties lost and damage the contents.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ron\_Bower](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/ron_bower/32/4657_2.png) [@Ron\_Bower](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Ron_Bower)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/building-macos-version-on-windows/73772/4 "2022-12-21T13:52:00Z")

</div>

Thanks to all for the quick replies. It seems I was given bad advice a few years ago.

Strange how it has worked well all this time with no complaints. But, glad to be set straight now.

Ron Bower

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Greg\_O](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/greg_o/32/22785_2.png) [@Greg\_O](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Greg_O)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/building-macos-version-on-windows/73772/5 "2022-12-21T19:05:42Z")

</div>

I suspect that you had been building 32-bit macOS apps before Xojo was actually using a “framework”. That would have allowed you to do what you are describing.
