why does unreal still fail to open xcode even after setting everything right?

Development Programming & Scripting Blueprint
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Hi everyone,

I’m on Unreal Engine 5.6 on macOS (installed through the Epic Games Launcher) and trying to rebuild some C++ plugins that work perfectly on Windows. My plan is to make them compile on Mac too.

Everything on my setup works fine. I’m using the latest Xcode (26.0.1), it’s properly set under Command Line Tools in Xcode’s settings, and Unreal detects it under the editor preferences with no issues. I can open Unreal, run normal Blueprint projects, and even build and launch regular projects without a single problem.

The problem starts when I try to create a new C++ project. Unreal immediately throws a message “Engine modules cannot be compiled at runtime.” When I click “Open with Xcode,” it fails again with “Failed to open selected source code accessor ‘Xcode’.”

The reason I’m doing this is because I want to create a C++ project first, then place my Windows plugin inside that project’s Plugins folder and rebuild it from there for Mac. But I can’t even get past the step of creating a fresh C++ project because Unreal refuses to open or link with Xcode properly.

Does anybody know how to solve this when using the Epic Launcher version of Unreal on macOS?

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i don’t use mac at the moment.

but you need to enable support for xcode in the plugin section of your .uproject. usually unreal does that by default.

then you can (at least on windows) right click the uproject and select “generate project files”.

maybe that helps.