If your Mac takes an unusually long time to boot up, or if your screen is immediately flooded with music players, chat applications, and cloud syncing utilities the moment you log in, you have a startup problem. Many software developers intentionally configure their applications to launch automatically when you turn on your computer.
While this is convenient for essential utilities like a password manager, having too many background applications running simultaneously will severely degrade your computer’s performance and drain your battery. To reclaim your system resources, you need to learn how to stop apps from opening automatically on Mac startup.
Managing Login Items in System Settings
Apple refers to these auto-starting applications as “Login Items”. You can easily manage them through your Mac’s main configuration panel.
Note: The following instructions apply to macOS Ventura, Sonoma, and later versions. If you are using an older version of macOS (like Monterey or Big Sur), this menu will be located in “System Preferences > Users & Groups”.
- Click the Apple Logo () in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select System Settings from the drop-down menu.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on General.
- On the right side of the window, click on Login Items.
You will now see a list of applications configured to open when you log in.
Removing an App from Login Items
To stop an application from launching automatically, you simply need to remove it from this list.
- Click on the name of the application you wish to disable (e.g., Spotify, Skype, or Steam) so that it is highlighted in blue.
- Click the small Minus (-) button located directly beneath the list.
- The application will immediately disappear from the list.
The next time you restart your Mac, that specific application will remain closed until you manually open it from your Applications folder or Dock.
Disabling Background Allowances
In modern versions of macOS, you will notice a second section directly below your Login Items, titled Allow in the Background.
This section lists applications and helper tools that are permitted to perform tasks (like checking for software updates or syncing data) even when the main application is completely closed. While these do not spawn a visible window on startup, they still consume processing power.
- To stop an app from running secret background tasks, simply click the toggle switch next to its name so that it turns grey (Off).
- Warning: Be careful when disabling background items. If you disable a cloud storage tool (like Dropbox or Google Drive), your files will stop syncing automatically. If you disable an anti-virus scanner, it may stop functioning correctly.
The “Reopen Windows” Trick
Sometimes, an application continues to open on startup even if it is not listed in your Login Items. This is usually caused by a specific feature designed to resume your previous session.
When you click Restart or Shut Down on your Mac, a confirmation dialogue box appears on the screen.
Look closely at this box. There is a checkbox labelled “Reopen windows when logging back in”.
If this box is checked, macOS will remember exactly which apps you had open when you clicked shut down, and it will forcefully relaunch all of them when you turn the computer back on. If you want a clean, fresh desktop upon booting, you must uncheck this box every time you restart your Mac.
