What are startup items?
Startup items, or login items, are services and applications that launch every time you start your Mac. These are applications that sneak into startup items without notice, never asking if you need or want them there. This way you may end up with a dozen apps launching as soon as you turn on your Mac, weighing heavily on its processor and memory capacities and slowing it down. Such items can increase your Mac’s startup time and decrease its performance.
- Jan 15, 2020 First, select the app that is to be set to launch at the startup and then hold it. Now drag it to drop in the login items list. You are done with the process. The app that you dropped in the Login items list will be then set as the Login items and will launch at start up on a Mac. So, these are the ways to set apps to launch at startup on a Mac.
- For apps that control their startup behavior from within the app, you’ll want to visit the app directly. Look for an item in the app’s preferences about starting at login. Uncheck that box, and the app will not run at login in the future.
- Delay Startup Apps on Mac Startup. A very simple and basic app dubbed as Delay Start lends you an exciting way to manage startup apps. Instead of temporarily stopping auto-launch apps, delay there starts to fasten the log-in process. Just stop all apps from launching automatically and add just Delay Start.
- Mar 20, 2019 To add apps that do not have a built-in option to run at start up to the start up items on macOS, you need to go through the System Preferences. Open the System Preferences app and click Users & Groups. Select the user that you want to add the app for in the column on the left, and in the pane on the right, select the Login items tab.
- Press and hold the mouse or trackpad. Press and hold the Media Eject key ⏏ or F12 key. Immediately after your Mac starts (some Mac computers play a startup sound), press and hold the Shift key. Release the Shift key when you see the progress indicator.
May 02, 2019 If you want to do a clean start, then the best way is to uncheck the box that appears when you choose Reboot or Shutdown. Choose Restart or Shut Down from the Apple Menu. It doesn’t matter which one. Uncheck the box near “ Reopen windows when logging back in ”. Jun 28, 2019 Let’s check out the Settings option first. In Windows 10, open Settings Apps Startup.Here, you can see a list of all the apps that can start up.
Plus, sometimes when you remove an application or a service, it leaves a login item with a broken link. These broken login items are completely useless, cause unwanted messages, and waste your Mac's resources (because they look for non-existent applications). Whether you're running macOS Catalina or El Capitan, or earlier — it's all the same, so just read on.
So, let's go over how to take control of login items, and how to get rid of unwanted, broken or hidden startup items.
How to disable startup programs?
Do you want to stop programs from running at startup? There’s an easy way to remove programs from startup and get your Mac to load faster on launch. The fastest way to turn off startup items on Mac is an app like CleanMyMac X.
- Download CleanMyMac for free.
- Launch the app.
- Open Optimization tab.
- Click on Login items.
- From the list of apps, disable the ones you don’t need on startup.
- Done!
How to change startup programs manually?
Disabling Mac startup programs is possible manually. Therefore, if you have some time and would like to do it yourself, follow the steps below.
Your login items are listed in settings. One of the easiest ways to control startup items is inside System Preferences > Users & Groups.
- Open System Preferences.
- Go to Users & Groups.
- Choose your nickname on the left.
- Choose Login items tab.
- Check startup programs you want to remove.
- Press the “–” sign below.
- You’re done.
- If you need to add an item back, press “+” and choose the app you’d like add.
- Then restart your Mac to see the changes.
How to fix broken startup items?
Broken Mac startup files are left there because some part of apps are left on your Mac long after you’ve moved the app to the Trash. To get rid of these parts and to fix your startup, you’re going to need CleanMyMac again. First, you need to check if they’re among startup items and disable them if so. You can do it following the instructions above. Then you need to remove app leftovers. CleanMyMac works fine on macOS High Sierra and earlier OS.
- Launch CleanMyMac.
- Choose Uninstaller tab.
- Scroll through the list of apps.
- If you spot any app that you’ve deleted, check them.
- Delete the app leftovers you’ve chosen.
You can also find and remove broken login items with the help of System Junk module:
- Choose System Junk tab.
- Click Scan.
- Review details and click Clean.
Finally, you need to clean your macOS startup items through launch services:
- Open Maintenance tab.
- Choose Rebuild Launch Services.
- Hit Run.
- Done.
Once you do it, all broken app data on your Mac will be fixed.
Macos Startup Chime
Remove daemons and agents from startup process
If speaking of files, first go to the system folder /Library/StartUpItems. Here you’ll find all the startup files that are being launched with the system. You can delete the login item you think is necessary if you’re totally sure what you are doing.
Also, the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder contains a bunch of preference files that define how the application that is being launched along with the system should work. You might want to delete some of these files as well if you know you don’t need them and removing them is safe.
The /Library/LaunchAgents contains preference files responsible for the apps that launch during the login process (not the startup).
The above-mentioned folders contain app-related files. However, you can also check system folders to review whether you need some of the system applications to be running on startup:
- /System/Library/LaunchDaemons - note that besides preference files this folder contains other important system items that are recommended to keep untouched.
- /System/Library/LaunchAgents - most probably, you won’t also find anything worth removing in this folder, however, keeping this location in mind might help you find files related to a problematic app that causes troubles on Mac startup. If you have a problematic application that messes about on login, you can try to trace it back from this folder.
Macos Prevent App From Start On Startup Mac
But, if you’re looking for simple ways to remove login items, we suggest using a professional Mac utility. Download CleanMyMac X for free and make unwanted and broken login items a thing of the past.