Install Accountable2You for Apple Mac

We support both Intel and Apple Silicon-based Macs that still receive Apple's security updates. You can see macOS versions currently maintained by Apple here.

Step 1: Download Accountable2You for Mac

  1. Download the Accountable2You monitoring app for macOS.
    1. For Intel Macs, click here.
    2. For M series Macs, click here.
  2. Locate the downloaded installer file. Before opening it, be sure to move the file to your computer’s local Downloads folder if it isn’t there already. (A2U may fail to launch if it's in a different folder.)
  3. Double-click the file to install Accountable2You.

Step 2: Run and Install Accountable2You

Once you run Accountable2You's installer file, you should see a window similar to the one below open on your screen:

Continue through the next prompts until you see the option to choose your install location. (The computer's main hard drive should be selected by default, so you won't need to change this in most cases.)

Click Install, and the installer should prompt you to enter your device password (the one you use to unlock your Mac). After a few seconds, you should see the screen below. Installation is complete!

Step 3: Launch the app

After the installation process is completed, the Accountable2You application should open automatically, and you’ll be presented with a screen similar to the one shown below.

If it doesn't launch automatically, try opening Launchpad and running Accountable2You from there. (Here's how.)

Unable to launch the app?

Your computer may be running an unsupported version of macOS—our team will be happy to confirm this for you! 

So we can help you most efficiently, please send your "About This Mac" info to support@accountable2you.com. Here's how: 

  1. On your Mac, select the Apple icon in the upper left corner.
  2. Choose About This Mac.
  3. Take a screenshot of the window that appears.
  4. Attach that to your email, and we'll take a look! 

Already have an active account with Accountable2You?

  • Great! Just click the Log In button, read through the prompts on the following screens, and continue to step #4 below.

Haven’t created an account with Accountable2You yet?

  • Not a problem — just click "Create an Account" to sign up for a free trial on our website! Once you’ve signed up for an account successfully, return to this window and click "Log In" to sign in with your newly created username and password.

Step 4: Register the device to your account

For the software to successfully capture activity and add it to the Accountability Reports, you’ll need to sign in and register the device to your existing Accountable2You account.

  1. Device Name: To make it easy to identify later on the Accountability Reports, give your device a unique name, like "Nathan's Mac Computer."
  2. Username & Password: Enter your Accountable2You username and password.
  3. If you're a parent on a Family plan and installing this app on a child's device, use your own username and password here. You'll assign this device to your child after step 3.

  4. Click the Add Device button.

Using the Family Plan with multiple, existing users?

No? Skip to step #5.

Yes? Select the family member that will be using this device.

  1. You’ll be presented with a list of users for your family plan, as shown below.
  2. Select the primary user for the device from the list.

Step 5: Review the terms and conditions.

Please take a moment to review the Terms & Conditions before proceeding. Once you're finished, click "I Agree" to continue.

Step 6: Enable Screen Recording permission for A2U

If this is the first time installing Accountable2You on your Mac, then there's one final step to finish setting up the monitoring. To enable the Screen Recording permission for Accountable2You, simply walk through these steps:

  1. Click the green "Check my Device" button in the A2U app.
  2. Select Open Settings.
  3. Confirm on the pop-up that you want to open System Preferences, and it should automatically open to the correct location.
  4. Click the padlock icon to allow changes to the settings and enter your Mac's password.
  5. Now, check the box next to Accountable2You and click the padlock again.
  6. Quit and reopen the A2U app, and you should be all set!


Want to visualize those steps? Check out the screen capture below (look for the button in the bottom right after playing to make it fullscreen)!

Why Screen Recording?

You might be wondering why our app uses the Screen Recording permission. Essentially, A2U needs a way to "look inside" the other apps on the device. This is something that we used to accomplish through the Accessibility Settings, but our developers have found a better way—by using the Screen Recording permission!

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean we’re sending screenshots to your partners (and we don’t have plans to start); it’s just another way to achieve the same goal. You can expect to see the same line-by-line reporting that we’ve always used.

Step 7 (OPTIONAL): Excluding Apps

Accountable2You for Mac offers an option to exclude certain applications from monitoring if this is necessary for privacy purposes. For instructions on doing this, please check out our App Exclusion for Mac guide.


You're all set!

After you follow the steps above, Accountable2You will begin monitoring all programs and browsers on this device — it will run quietly in the background, monitor activity on this Mac, and send reports and alerts to Accountability Partners. You can continue to use your device normally!

Keep in mind that Accountable2You can only monitor the profile on which it is installed. For Mac computers with multiple user profiles, be sure to repeat the install process for each user in order to ensure full device accountability. 

Want to test the monitoring? Click here to learn how!

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