Feb 07, 2020  When you log out of your Mac or restart it, deselect ”Reopen windows when logging back in” when prompted. Or start up in safe mode, then restart normally.This doesn't change the setting, but your Mac forgets any windows that were open the last time you logged out or restarted. Oct 24, 2017  Stop apps opening on startup on Mac. Checking to see what apps are starting automatically is a breeze. Select the Apple menu and System Preferences. Select Users & Groups and then the Login Items tab in the top center. The list of enabled apps will appear in the center pane. Jul 03, 2019  Delay Startup Apps with Delay Start. You can delay the launch of startup apps rather than disable them entirely. The third-party app Delay Start lets you set a timer for specific apps to control when they start up. Delay Start works similarly to the Mac's own internal interface. Click the plus sign to add a program to the list.

What are startup items?

Startup items, or login items, are services and applications that launch every time you start your Mac. These are applications that sneak into startup items without notice, never asking if you need or want them there. This way you may end up with a dozen apps launching as soon as you turn on your Mac, weighing heavily on its processor and memory capacities and slowing it down. Such items can increase your Mac’s startup time and decrease its performance.

Plus, sometimes when you remove an application or a service, it leaves a login item with a broken link. These broken login items are completely useless, cause unwanted messages, and waste your Mac's resources (because they look for non-existent applications). Whether you're running macOS Catalina or El Capitan, or earlier — it's all the same, so just read on.

So, let's go over how to take control of login items, and how to get rid of unwanted, broken or hidden startup items.

How to disable startup programs?

Do you want to stop programs from running at startup? There’s an easy way to remove programs from startup and get your Mac to load faster on launch. The fastest way to turn off startup items on Mac is an app like CleanMyMac X.

1. Download CleanMyMac for free.
2. Launch the app.
3. Open Optimization tab.
4. Click on Login items.
5. From the list of apps, disable the ones you don’t need on startup.
6. Done!

How to change startup programs manually?

Disabling Mac startup programs is possible manually. Therefore, if you have some time and would like to do it yourself, follow the steps below.

Your login items are listed in settings. One of the easiest ways to control startup items is inside System Preferences > Users & Groups.

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Go to Users & Groups.
3. Choose your nickname on the left.
4. Choose Login items tab.
5. Check startup programs you want to remove.
6. Press the “–” sign below.
7. You’re done.
8. If you need to add an item back, press “+” and choose the app you’d like add.
9. Then restart your Mac to see the changes.

How to fix broken startup items?

Broken Mac startup files are left there because some part of apps are left on your Mac long after you’ve moved the app to the Trash. To get rid of these parts and to fix your startup, you’re going to need CleanMyMac again. First, you need to check if they’re among startup items and disable them if so. You can do it following the instructions above. Then you need to remove app leftovers. CleanMyMac works fine on macOS High Sierra and earlier OS.

1. Launch CleanMyMac.
2. Choose Uninstaller tab.
3. Scroll through the list of apps.
4. If you spot any app that you’ve deleted, check them.
5. Delete the app leftovers you’ve chosen.

You can also find and remove broken login items with the help of System Junk module:

1. Choose System Junk tab.
2. Click Scan.
3. Review details and click Clean.

Finally, you need to clean your macOS startup items through launch services:

1. Open Maintenance tab.
2. Choose Rebuild Launch Services.
3. Hit Run.
4. Done.

Once you do it, all broken app data on your Mac will be fixed.

Remove daemons and agents from startup process

If speaking of files, first go to the system folder /Library/StartUpItems. Here you’ll find all the startup files that are being launched with the system. You can delete the login item you think is necessary if you’re totally sure what you are doing.

Also, the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder contains a bunch of preference files that define how the application that is being launched along with the system should work. You might want to delete some of these files as well if you know you don’t need them and removing them is safe.

The /Library/LaunchAgents contains preference files responsible for the apps that launch during the login process (not the startup).

The above-mentioned folders contain app-related files. However, you can also check system folders to review whether you need some of the system applications to be running on startup:

1. /System/Library/LaunchDaemons - note that besides preference files this folder contains other important system items that are recommended to keep untouched.
2. /System/Library/LaunchAgents - most probably, you won’t also find anything worth removing in this folder, however, keeping this location in mind might help you find files related to a problematic app that causes troubles on Mac startup. If you have a problematic application that messes about on login, you can try to trace it back from this folder.

But, if you’re looking for simple ways to remove login items, we suggest using a professional Mac utility. Download CleanMyMac X for free and make unwanted and broken login items a thing of the past.

These might also interest you:

Starting with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, the operating system is able to automatically reopen apps which were running before shutdown or restart. This behavior is totally unexpected for most Windows users who upgraded to the recent release of the OS. Here is what you can do to change the situation and stop Windows 10 from restoring previously open apps after a reboot.

RECOMMENDED: Click here to fix Windows errors and optimize system performance

If you are following Windows 10 development and articles on this blog, you might be familiar with all the changes done to Windows 10. One of them was the ability to re-launch the apps after installing updates, i.e. after restarting once updates were installed. When one of our readers, Kenzo‏, asked me about apps auto restarting in Fall Creators Update, I suggested him to change the appropriate option. See this article 'How To Auto Sign In After Restarting Windows 10'. However, this didn't help.

Update: If you are running Windows 10 build 17040 and above, you CAN use the option Use my sign in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart under Privacy in Settings to disable apps auto restarting. Microsoft said the following:

Based on your feedback, the feature to restore applications that have registered for application restart after you reboot or shutdown (through power options available on the Start Menu and various other locations) has been set to only occur for users that have enabled “Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting my device after an update or restart” in the Privacy section under Sign-in Options Settings.

If you are running an older build, read on. Tip: To find the build you have installed, refer to the article How to find the Windows 10 build number you are running.

As I have figured out lately, the option in the Settings app is half baked. While it prevents a number of apps from automatically starting after a reboot, it affects Store apps mostly!

Folks on Neowin have found the answer. They discovered the official Microsoft solution for the situation. It is as follows.

Previously, Windows was not supposed to restart any app which was running before the restart. This behavior changed with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Now, Windows 10 will automatically start apps you have been running before the shutdown or restart. Even disabling the Fast Boot feature does not change the situation.

Microsoft's official suggestion comes with two solutions. Let's review them.

To disable apps auto reopening in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Open a new command prompt window.
2. When you want to shut down, use the following command shut down the OS instead:
3. When you want to restart, use the following command to reboot the OS instead:

The commands above will now restart or turn off Windows 10 in a special way, so it won't be able to reopen previously running apps.

You can create the appropriate shortcuts to save your time. Refer to the following article:

If you want, you can add a Shut Down context menu to the Desktop.

Mac Reopens Apps On Startup Mac

Here is how it can be done:

There is an alternative solution. It is simple but annoying. Before you power off or restart Windows 10, close all the running apps. Look at your notification area (system tray) and close any apps which run in the background which you don't want automatically restored.

This way, you will have no apps which Windows 10 would restart.

Regardless of the method you use, I suggest you to disable two options mentioned in the articles

How To Have Apps Open On Startup

From what I read on Neowin and Reddit, I see many people are frustrated by this change. Actually, it's not clear why we need this feature if we already have the Startup folder.

What about you? Do you find this change useful or not? Share your opinion in the comments.

Mac Don't Reopen Apps On Startup

RECOMMENDED: Click here to fix Windows errors and optimize system performance