By default, macOS has a unique feature designed to resume your workflow exactly where you left off. If you have Safari, Mail, and Photoshop open when you shut down your Mac, it will forcefully relaunch all three of those heavy applications the moment you turn the computer back on. While sometimes helpful, this behaviour severely slows down your boot time and clutters your screen if you just wanted a fresh start.
How to Disable the Reopen Feature
There are two distinct places where macOS hides this setting. The first is a checkbox on the shutdown screen itself.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select Restart… or Shut Down… from the menu.
- A confirmation dialogue box will pop up on your screen.
- Look for the checkbox labelled Reopen windows when logging back in.
- Uncheck this box before you click the final blue Restart button.
Note: macOS remembers your preference here. Once you uncheck this box once, it will remain unchecked for all future restarts.
Checking Your Login Items
If an app is still stubbornly launching on startup even after you unchecked the box above, it is likely hardcoded into your system’s Login Items.
- Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
- Click on General in the left sidebar, then click on Login Items on the right.
- Look at the top list titled “Open at Login.”
- If you see the annoying app in this list, click on it once to select it, then click the small minus (-) button below the list to remove it permanently.