How to Stop Apps From Opening at Startup on a Mac

Every time you log in to your Mac, a crowd of apps fights to open at once: chat tools, cloud sync, music players, updaters for software you barely remember installing. The result is a slow login, a busy machine for the first few minutes, and background apps quietly using memory and battery all day. The fix is to take control of your login items. macOS gives you a simple list to manage — plus a few hidden places where stubborn items live. This guide shows every location, how to remove what you do not need, and how to keep helpful items while cutting the clutter.

Quick Answer

To stop apps opening when your Mac starts, open System Settings, go to General, then Login Items, select each app you do not need at startup, and click the minus button to remove it. On the same screen, review “Allow in the Background” and switch off entries for apps you do not use. For items that still come back, check the LaunchAgents folders in your Library and the /Library folder, and check each app’s own settings for an “open at login” option.

How to Remove Login Items in System Settings

1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
2. Click General in the sidebar, then click Login Items.
3. Under “Open at Login,” select an app in the list.
4. Click the minus (–) button below the list to remove it.
5. Repeat for every app that does not need to start with the Mac.
6. Scroll down to “Allow in the Background” and turn off switches for apps whose background work you do not want, such as updaters for removed software.

Removing an item from this list does not uninstall the app — it simply stops it launching automatically. You can still open it any time from Applications or Launchpad. On older macOS versions, the same list lives in System Preferences under Users & Groups, then Login Items. Note the tick boxes there hide apps after launch; hiding is not the same as removing, so use the minus button to actually stop an app starting. Apple’s support article on opening items automatically when you log in documents both behaviours.

Which Items Should You Keep, and Which Can Go?

Keep the small set of tools you genuinely use from the first minute: your password manager, a cloud sync service whose files you open constantly, and any security software your workplace requires. Remove almost everything else: media players, chat apps you can open when needed, game launchers, printer and scanner suites for devices you rarely use, and “helper” apps for software you uninstalled long ago — those orphaned entries still run and phone home. If you do not recognise an item, note its name and remove it anyway; if something you use later asks for its helper, reinstalling or re-enabling takes a moment. A trimmed login list is also one of the highest-impact steps in speeding up a slow Mac without more RAM, because background apps tax the machine all day, not just at login.

Stopping Apps That Reopen Because of macOS Itself

Sometimes the apps returning are not login items at all — macOS is reopening them because they were open when you shut down. When you choose Restart or Shut Down, look at the dialog box: untick “Reopen windows when logging back in” and the Mac stops restoring your last session. Individual apps can also reopen their own windows; check each app’s settings for “restore windows” or similar options. And if an app relaunches every time you close it during the day, that is not startup behaviour — right-click its Dock icon, open Options, and make sure “Open at Login” is unticked there too, since the Dock menu edits the same login list.

The Hidden Places: Launch Agents and Daemons

Some items survive removal from the Login Items list because they are installed as launch agents — small instruction files that tell macOS to run them. They live in three folders:

• ~/Library/LaunchAgents — your personal Library folder (hold Option and click the Finder’s Go menu to reach Library).
• /Library/LaunchAgents — for all users, set up by installers.
• /Library/LaunchDaemons — system-level helpers that start before login.

Files are named like “com.company.updater.plist.” If an item in Login Items keeps returning, look for its matching file here, but be careful: deleting the wrong file can break software you need. Only remove files whose names clearly match software you have uninstalled, and keep a copy in a folder on your Desktop for a week in case something complains. Never touch /System/Library folders. For most people the System Settings list alone is enough — these folders are the last resort for items that refuse to die.

How to Add an App Back If You Change Your Mind

Open the same Login Items screen, click the plus button, choose the app from Applications, and click Add. Or right-click the app’s Dock icon and choose Options, then “Open at Login.” Nothing about removing an item is permanent, so experiment freely — a week with a lean startup list will show you exactly which helpers you actually miss.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Hiding instead of removing. Old versions of macOS let you tick a “Hide” box; the app still launches. Use the minus button.
• Removing your password manager or required work tools. Keep the few things you truly use immediately; the goal is less clutter, not a bare machine.
• Deleting launch files for apps still installed. The app may break or simply reinstall the file on its next update. Change the setting inside the app first.
• Forgetting the background list. “Allow in the Background” entries run even when the app never opens a window — they matter just as much.

How to Tell Your Cleanup Worked

The change is easy to measure. Restart your Mac and time how long it takes from login to a machine that feels ready — a trimmed list usually cuts that wait dramatically, and the first minutes of use stop sounding like a small airport of fan noise and disk activity. Open Activity Monitor a few minutes after login and compare the process list with before: the helpers for apps you removed should simply be absent, and memory pressure should sit lower with no work open. Over the following days, notice battery life on a laptop — background updaters, sync engines, and chat apps sipping power all day add up to a real difference. If nothing feels different, the bottleneck was never startup items, and your next stop is disk space and the CPU view of Activity Monitor — but in most households, the login list was guilty as charged.

Conclusion

Your Mac’s startup list should be a short guest list you chose, not every app that ever asked. Five minutes in System Settings under General, Login Items removes the crowd, speeds up every login, and frees memory and battery for the work you actually open. Revisit the list every few months — new software loves to sneak itself back in.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does an app come back after I remove it from Login Items?

Usually the app’s own settings re-add it, or a launch agent file reinstalls the entry. Turn off “launch at login” inside the app itself, and check the LaunchAgents folders for leftovers.

Does removing a login item uninstall the app?

No. The app stays fully installed in Applications. You are only stopping it from opening automatically when you log in.

What is the difference between Login Items and background items?

Login Items open visible apps at login. Background items are invisible helpers — updaters, sync engines, licence checkers — managed by the switches lower on the same settings screen.

Can I delay an app instead of removing it?

macOS has no built-in delay, but third-party launch tools can stagger startups. Simpler: remove the item and open the app manually when you actually need it.

Why do apps reopen even with an empty login list?

The “Reopen windows when logging back in” option on the shutdown dialog restores your previous session. Untick it once and macOS remembers your choice.