How to stop apps opening at login on a Mac

27 October 2026 · 5 min read

To stop an app opening at login, go to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions (Login Items on macOS 14), find it under “Open at Login”, select it and click the minus (-) button. That removes it from the list of apps that open when you sign in. If it keeps coming back, turn off its own “open at login” setting inside the app, or switch it off under “Allow in the Background” on the same page.

There are several places an app can start from, which is why one method does not always work. This post goes from the simplest to the most thorough.

Method 1: System Settings

This is the main place, and it works for most apps.

Open System Settings and choose General in the sidebar.
Choose Login Items & Extensions.
Under “Open at Login”, select the app you do not want.
Click the minus button below the list.

Removing it from this list stops the app opening itself at login. It does not delete the app. You can also use the plus button to add an app you do want.

Method 2: the Dock

If the app is in your Dock, there is a shortcut. Right-click, or Control-click, its Dock icon, open Options, and untick “Open at Login”. That does the same thing as the list above and is handy when you notice the app right after it opens.

Method 3: the app’s own setting

Many apps manage their own startup, and the control sits in their settings. Look for a checkbox with wording like “Open at login”, “Launch at startup” or “Start when I log in”, usually in Settings or Preferences. Chat apps, cloud storage, music apps and utilities nearly all have one.

This is the best method for any app that keeps returning. When an app has its own setting, it can put itself back in the list each time it runs. Turn off the setting in the app and the entry stops reappearing. Why apps keep adding themselves to your login items explains that behaviour.

Method 4: Allow in the Background

Open the same page, Login Items & Extensions, and look at “Allow in the Background”. This is a separate list. It covers helpers, updaters, launch agents and daemons that apps install to run in the background, whether or not the app itself is open. Each has a switch. Turning one off tells macOS not to let that item run. Switching on an item that runs for every account on the Mac asks for an administrator password.

Two cautions. The list can include things from apps you have installed on purpose, such as a backup tool or a VPN, where switching a helper off may stop the app doing its job. And item names are sometimes the developer’s name rather than the app’s name, which makes them hard to match. If you are unsure, leave the switch on and check what it belongs to first. What “Allow in the Background” means in macOS settings goes through it.

Method 5: Foreman’s Startup Apps page

System Settings shows the main items but not everything that starts on a Mac, and it says little about what each one does. Foreman has a Startup Apps page that lists everything that opens at login or runs in the background: login items, launch agents and daemons, and background items that apps register. Items are grouped by the app they belong to, with readable names.

Each row has a status, such as Enabled, Disabled, “Program missing” or “Off in System Settings”, and an “Impact now” figure that shows whether it is running and how much it uses. To stop one, choose Disable on its row. You can choose Enable later to bring it back, so nothing is lost by trying. System-wide items, called daemons, need an administrator password.

Some practical details from using it:

macOS asks once for permission to let Foreman control System Events, because that is how Foreman reads login items.
Foreman can also read the switches under Allow in the Background if you give it Full Disk Access. Without that, it shows a note you can skip.
Items an app has registered through macOS’s own login items system can only be switched in System Settings, so Foreman opens it there for you.

Foreman is $12 once and free to try for 24 hours, but nothing in the earlier methods needs it.

Items with “Program missing”

If a row says “Program missing”, the app it belongs to is gone, and only the startup entry remains. A leftover like that does nothing useful. Foreman can remove them one at a time with Remove…, or all at once with Clean Up Leftovers, and their files go to the Trash. How to remove login items left behind by deleted apps covers the manual route.

What is safe to stop

Apps you opened on purpose and then forgot, such as chat, music, cloud storage, game launchers and updaters for software you rarely use, are good candidates. Disabling one means it does not start at login. You can still open it yourself whenever you want.

Be more careful with anything you do not recognise, with security software, and with anything that belongs to macOS. If you cannot say what an item does, search for its name before disabling it. Is it safe to disable startup items on a Mac? goes through which ones to leave alone.

Will it make the Mac start faster

Fewer apps opening at login means less work right after you sign in, which mostly shows up in the first minute or two when the Mac is busy launching everything. I will not promise a figure. The effect depends on how many apps you were opening and how heavy they are.

Summary

Start with Login Items & Extensions in System Settings and remove the app under “Open at Login”. If it returns, turn off its own startup setting. If a helper still runs, check “Allow in the Background”. For a single list of everything that starts, including leftovers from apps you deleted, use the Startup Apps page in Foreman.