Installing Unreal Engine 5 on macOS

If Unreal Engine 5 will not launch on macOS, the cause is often an incomplete Xcode setup instead of Unreal itself. This guide walks through the required Apple tools, then shows how to fix the common “Xcode not installed” startup error.

1. Install the prerequisites

1.1 Install Xcode

Download and install Xcode first:

• Xcode in the App Store
• https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

After installation, launch Xcode at least once and accept the license terms. Unreal may fail to detect Xcode until this step is completed.

1.2 Install Xcode Command Line Tools

Install the Command Line Tools (this also installs Git and other developer utilities):

xcode-select --install

1.3 Install Metal Toolchain

Unreal Engine on macOS requires Apple’s Metal toolchain components:

xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain

2. Fix the common startup error

If Unreal Editor still says Xcode is not installed, the Command Line Tools path is usually not set.

To fix it:

1. Open Xcode.
2. In the menu bar, select Xcode > Settings (or Preferences on older versions).
3. Open the Locations tab.
4. Set a value for Command Line Tools using the dropdown.

3. Final check

Once these steps are complete, restart Unreal Engine 5. In most cases, the editor should now launch normally.

If it still fails:

• Make sure Xcode and Command Line Tools versions match your macOS version.
• Re-run xcode-select --install and the Metal toolchain command.
• Restart your Mac to ensure all developer components are fully registered.

With Xcode, Command Line Tools, and Metal configured correctly, Unreal on macOS is usually stable and ready for project work.