If you’ve ever clicked a document name in NetDocuments on your Mac and had absolutely nothing happen — no download, no Word, no error worth reading — you’re not alone. It means ndClick isn’t installed yet. This post walks through how to install ndClick on a Mac, start to finish, in about five minutes.
What ndClick Actually Does
On Windows, ndOffice puts NetDocuments inside Word, Excel, and Outlook. There is no ndOffice for Mac, and there won’t be one.
On a Mac, that job belongs to ndClick. It’s a small app that sits in your menu bar and waits. When you click a document in NetDocuments in your browser, ndClick downloads it, checks it out to you, and opens it in Word, Excel, or whatever app your Mac uses for that file type. When you check the document back in, ndClick sends your changes up.
Without it, the website is effectively read-only. Every Mac user at the firm needs it.
Before You Start
You’ll need your Mac’s administrator password. Not your NetDocuments password — the one you use to unlock your Mac and install software. If you don’t have it, your IT team will need to run the install for you.
macOS will warn you about the installer. That’s expected, and there’s a fix in Step 2. It doesn’t mean you downloaded the wrong thing.
You need to be logged in to NetDocuments in your browser. If you’re not there yet, start by logging in to NetDocuments for the first time on a Mac.
Installing ndClick on a Mac, Step by Step
Step 1: Download the ndClick Installer from NetDocuments
https://apps.netdocuments.com/apps/ndClick/ndClick.zip
Step 2: Right-Click the Installer and Choose Open
Do not double-click it. Apple blocks installers that didn’t come from the App Store, and double-clicking them leads to a dead end saying the file can’t be opened because it’s from an unidentified developer.
Right-click ndClick.pkg and choose Open instead. The same warning appears, but this time with an Open button. Click it.
If macOS refuses either way, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the ndClick message.
Step 3: Click Continue Through the Installer
The installer opens with a welcome screen. Nothing here needs changing. Click Continue.
Step 4: Agree to the Software License
Click Continue, then Agree when the license prompt appears.
Step 5: Click Install and Enter Your Mac Password
Click Install. macOS asks for your Mac administrator password — again, not your NetDocuments password. Enter it, and the install runs in a few seconds.
Step 6: Close the Installer
When you see “The installation was successful,” click Close. If macOS offers to move the installer to the Trash, let it.
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Step 7: Find ndClick in Your Menu Bar
Look at the top-right of your screen, near the clock. The ndClick icon should be there. That’s how you know it’s running.
If it isn’t, open Applications → ndClick once and it will start and stay there.
You’re Not Done Yet: Sign In to ndClick
Installing ndClick and signing in to ndClick are two different things, and this is where most people stop too early.
ndClick has its own login, separate from the browser. Being signed in to NetDocuments in Chrome does not sign in ndClick. Until you sign in from the menu bar, clicking a document still won’t do anything.
The sign-in steps are here: Setting up NetDocuments on a Mac.
The Result
Once ndClick is installed and you’re signed in, go back to NetDocuments in your browser and click any document name. It downloads, checks out to you, and opens — and a green checkmark appears next to it in the browser to show you have it.
When you’re finished, close the file and click that green checkmark to check the document back in. Do that even if you changed nothing, or you’ll leave the document locked for everyone else in the firm.
Need Help?
Is your firm rolling out Macs, or supporting a few attorneys who won’t give theirs up? We deploy ndClick across a firm and get your Mac users working the same way as everyone else — usually in a single call.
Schedule a free consultation at go.oncehub.com/optconsult.
Optiable has rolled out NetDocuments for over 600 law firms since 2010, specializing in firms with 10 to 150 users.