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How to Manage the Apps That Automatically Open When You Log Into macOS

You can have apps, documents, folders, or server connections open automatically whenever you log into macOS. Let’s look at how to do it with macOS Sonoma and the new macOS Sequoia. (Note: the screenshots below are from macOS Sonoma.)

° Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.

° Pick General > Login items. On macOS Sequoia, this option has been renamed “Login Items & Extensions.”

General > Login Items
General > Login Items

° You’ll see a list of apps under Open at Login. To stop a program from launching automatically upon login, select it, then click the “-“ icon.

Use “-“ to stop an app from automatically launching at startup.
Use “-“ to stop an app from automatically launching at startup.

° Conversely, use the “+” sign to select an app to automatically open at log-in.

° Below “Open at Login,” you’ll see an “Allow in the Background” option. This lists apps and background items that can perform tasks that you may not immediately see but that automatically launch in the background. You can stop any from launching by toggling it off. However, turning off a background item may prevent certain tasks from being completed. Proceed with caution.

Allow in the Background.
Allow in the Background.

You can also control apps automatically logging in from the macOS dock. 

° Click and hold on an app’s dock icon.

° Choose Options and check or uncheck the Open at Login option, depending on whether or not you want the program to start up with your Mac.

Setting Open at Login from the Dock.
Setting Open at Login from the Dock.
Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Contributing Author
Dennis has over 40 years of journalism experience and has written hundreds of articles. For the past 20-plus years, he's been an online journalist, covering mainly Apple Inc. He's written for MacCentral, MacWorld, MacMinute, Macsimum News, Apple Daily Report, and is now contributing editor at Apple World Today.
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2 Comments

  • Thanks. What about other applications that do not show in “Apple – System Settings – General – Login items”? Because not all show there. How to see them and turn them off or on?

  • Where else do startup programs reside? This method does not show several items that launch at startup on my Mac. One Drive is an example. My companies VPN and 1Password also launch at startup and don’t show in the location addressed in this article.