# How to find Intel-only apps on your Mac

> Select an app in Finder and choose File › Get Info: “Kind: Application (Intel)” means it is Intel-only and will stop working on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 28. To check all apps at once, open System Information › Software › Applications and look at the Kind column. Activity Monitor and Terminal’s lipo command work too.

## 1. One app: Finder › Get Info

1. Open the Applications folder in Finder and select the app.
2. Choose **File › Get Info** (or press ⌘I).
3. Look at **Kind**:
   - **Application (Intel)** — Intel-only. It needs Rosetta and stops working with macOS 28.
   - **Application (Universal)** — contains Apple silicon code. It keeps working.
   - **Application (Apple silicon)** — native. It keeps working.

This is the quickest check for a single app, but slow if you want to check every app on your Mac.

## 2. All apps: System Information

1. Open the Apple menu, choose **About This Mac**, then **More Info…**, and scroll down to **System Report…** (or hold the Option key and choose **System Information…** from the Apple menu).
2. In the sidebar, under **Software**, choose **Applications**. The list may take a moment to load.
3. Click the **Kind** column header to sort. Everything marked **Intel** depends on Rosetta.

The list also shows apps outside the Applications folder, such as supporting tools installed with other software. Focus on the apps you actually use.

## 3. Apps that are running: Activity Monitor

1. Open **Activity Monitor** (in Applications › Utilities).
2. In the **CPU** tab, look at the **Kind** column (if it isn’t shown, right-click a column header and turn it on).
3. **Intel** means the process runs through Rosetta right now.

This also shows background processes, such as a sync tool or a device utility that starts with your Mac.

## 4. Advanced: Terminal

`lipo` shows which processor types a program contains:

```
lipo -archs "/Applications/Some App.app/Contents/MacOS/Some App"
```

`x86_64` alone means Intel-only; `x86_64 arm64` means Universal; `arm64` alone means Apple silicon only.

To list every Intel-only app in the Applications folders, including subfolders and your own ~/Applications folder:

```
find /Applications ~/Applications -maxdepth 3 -name '*.app' -prune 2>/dev/null | while IFS= read -r app; do
  exe=$(defaults read "$app/Contents/Info" CFBundleExecutable 2>/dev/null) || continue
  [ "$(lipo -archs "$app/Contents/MacOS/$exe" 2>/dev/null)" = "x86_64" ] && echo "$app"
done
```

The same `lipo` check works for plug-ins, such as audio units in `~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/`: point it at the program inside the bundle’s `Contents/MacOS` folder.

## The warning in macOS 26.4 and later

Apple says that from macOS 26.4, macOS may show a notification when you open an app that relies on Rosetta. If you see it, check that app.

## What to do with your list

For each Intel-only app:

1. **Look for a native version.** It is often a free update, sometimes a paid upgrade. Our [compatibility database](https://keep86.com/compatibility) shows what we know for many apps, with sources and dates.
2. **Look for an alternative** if the developer has stopped working on the app.
3. **Keep it** on a Mac that stays on macOS 27, or in a macOS 27 virtual machine. See [How to run Intel apps on Apple silicon after macOS 28](https://keep86.com/guides/run-intel-apps-after-macos-28).

Keep86 will also include a free scanner that does all of this in one click and points to native versions where they exist. It is planned for October 2026 together with the app.

## Sources

- Apple Developer News, “Upcoming changes to Rosetta support for Intel-based macOS apps”, 1 September 2026 — https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=w5ngl9k2
- The Finder, System Information and Activity Monitor steps were written for macOS 26 and 27; menu names can differ slightly between versions.


---
Last checked 2026-10-04
Source: https://keep86.com/guides/find-intel-only-apps-on-your-mac