How to Stop Apps From Opening on Startup on a Mac

To stop apps from opening on startup on a Mac, open System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, select the app under Open at Login and click the minus button. Below that list, Allow in the Background controls helpers that run without a window; turn off the ones you don't need. If an app still comes back, it's either reopening from your last session, set to launch from inside its own settings, or installed as a launch agent that doesn't appear in the list.

This guide covers each of those, in the order to check them.

1. Remove the app from Login Items

1. Open System Settings and click General, then Login Items & Extensions. On macOS 13 and 14 it's just Login Items.
2. Under Open at Login, select the app.
3. Click the minus button.

Apps you use daily, such as a password manager or a menu bar utility, are worth leaving. Everything else here is a few seconds off every startup and memory held all day.

Another way to the same setting: right-click the app's Dock icon, choose Options, and untick Open at Login.

2. Turn off background items

Further down the same screen, Allow in the Background lists helpers and agents installed by apps: updaters, sync services, licence checkers, menu bar agents. They don't open a window, so you don't see them start, but they run from login until shutdown.

Turn off the switch for anything belonging to an app you rarely use or have already deleted. Items named after a developer rather than an app (for example "Adobe Inc." or a company you don't recognise) are usually updaters. Turning a helper off can stop that app's auto-update or sync, so leave the ones for apps you rely on.

3. Stop macOS reopening your last session

If the apps that come back are the ones you had open when you shut down, it's not a login item; it's the Reopen windows when logging back in option in the shutdown and restart dialog. Untick it before you click Restart or Shut Down. macOS remembers the choice.

You can also close the apps yourself before restarting, or press Option + Cmd + Q to quit an app and close its windows so it doesn't restore them.

4. Check the app's own settings

Some apps ignore Login Items and use their own switch, so removing them from the list has no effect:

• Spotify: Settings > Startup and window behaviour > Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer > No.
• Discord: Settings > Windows Settings > Open Discord off.
• Slack: Settings > Advanced > Launch app on login off.
• Steam: Settings > Interface > Run Steam when my computer starts off.
• Zoom: Settings > General > Start Zoom when I start Windows/macOS off.
• Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Creative Cloud: each has a "start at login" or "open at login" option in its Settings or Preferences.

If an app keeps reappearing after you've removed it from Login Items, open its settings before doing anything else.

5. Find launch agents that hide from the list

Apps can also start themselves through launch agent files that macOS reads at login. Recent macOS versions surface most of them under Allow in the Background, but older installers and some tools still leave files that don't appear anywhere in System Settings. They live in three folders:

~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Open each with Shift + Cmd + G in Finder. Every .plist file is one startup item, named after the app or developer. To stop one without deleting it, move the file to a folder on your Desktop and restart; if nothing breaks, delete it. Leave anything from Apple (com.apple.*) alone.

Launch agents from apps you've uninstalled are common, because dragging an app to the Trash doesn't remove them. How to uninstall apps on a Mac completely covers the leftovers, and DissectMac's uninstaller removes an app's launch agents with the app.

Does stopping startup apps make a Mac faster?

Yes, in two ways. Fewer apps at login means the Mac is usable sooner after startup, and fewer background processes means more memory and CPU for the apps you're using. On a Mac with 8 GB of memory, a dozen login items can be the difference between green and yellow memory pressure. It won't fix a Mac that's slow for another reason, such as a nearly full disk; why is my Mac so slow covers how to tell.

Why do apps keep opening on startup even after I remove them?

Apps keep opening on startup after you remove them from Login Items because they reopen from your last session, they have their own launch-at-login setting, or they installed a launch agent that macOS reads directly. Check the "Reopen windows" box in the restart dialog, the app's settings, and the LaunchAgents folders, in that order.

How do I see what's opening at startup on my Mac?

System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions shows both lists: Open at Login for apps, and Allow in the Background for helpers. For anything not listed there, look in ~/Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchAgents. To see what's actually running and how much it costs, open Activity Monitor; the Mac task manager guide explains how to read it.

Can I stop all apps from opening on startup at once?

Not with one switch, but it's quick: in Login Items & Extensions, select the first app, Shift + click the last, and click minus to remove them all. Then turn off the background items you don't need. Untick "Reopen windows when logging back in" at the next restart and the startup will be clean.