When you turn on your Mac, you might notice that several applications—such as Spotify, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Google Drive—automatically spring to life and crowd your screen before you’ve even had a chance to click anything. These “login items” are designed by software developers to ensure their apps are always running in the background. However, having too many apps open on startup can drastically slow down your Mac’s boot time, drain your battery faster, and clutter your workspace. You can easily take back control and stop these apps from auto-launching.
How to Remove Login Items
Apple provides a centralized menu in System Settings where you can view and remove every application that has permission to launch at startup.
- Click the Apple Logo () in the top-left corner of your Mac’s menu bar.
- Select System Settings… (or System Preferences on older macOS versions).
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on General.
- In the main window, click on Login Items (or “Login Items & Extensions”).
- Look at the top section titled “Open at Login”. You will see a list of applications.
- Click on the specific app you want to stop from opening (e.g., Spotify) so it is highlighted in blue.
- Click the small Minus (-) button located just beneath the list.
- The app will disappear from the list.
Managing Background Allowances
Directly below the “Open at Login” list, you will see a second section titled Allow in the Background.
This section lists hidden helper applications and updaters (like Google Chrome Updater or Adobe Creative Cloud) that run invisibly without opening a visible window. If you see software from companies you no longer use, you can toggle the switch next to their name to the Off position. This prevents them from silently consuming RAM and CPU power while you work.