Where Mac apps hide their updaters, and whether you need them

Many Mac apps install a separate updater that runs in the background and checks for new versions. You can find these in System Settings under General > Login Items & Extensions (Login Items on macOS 14), in the “Allow in the Background” list, and in the older launch agent folders. You do not strictly need an updater. If you switch one off, the app still works, and you update it by hand instead. The catch is that you then have to remember to do it.

Below: why updaters exist, where they hide, what switching one off really means, and how to keep apps current without them.

Why apps have updaters at all

Software needs updates. Bug fixes, security patches and new features have to reach you somehow, and the maker would rather you were on the latest version than on one with a known problem. There are three common ways it happens.

The App Store. Apps from the Mac App Store update through the App Store, and macOS handles it. These apps do not need their own updater.

A built-in check. Many apps check for updates only while they are open, usually when you launch them, and offer a button. This costs nothing when the app is closed, because nothing is running.

A separate background updater. Some makers install a second program that runs on its own, even when the app is closed, so that it can check for a new version and install it quietly. Browser makers and large office suite makers are the best known examples. Google Chrome and Microsoft Office have both used this pattern, with a helper that stays in the background, though how each one does it can change from one version to the next.

The third kind is the one this post is about. It is the one that shows up in your login items and background items without you ever having asked for it.

Where they hide

An updater is rarely labelled “updater” in a way you would spot, so it helps to know the places to look.

System Settings. Open Login Items & Extensions. Under “Allow in the Background” you will find helpers grouped by the app or company that registered them. A name that is the maker’s company name, with no app name, is often an updater or another helper. The setting for each is a switch.

Launch agent folders. Many updaters are set up as launch agents or daemons, which are files that tell macOS to run a program at login or on a timetable. They live in the LaunchAgents folder in your Library (in Finder, open the Go menu, hold Option and choose Library), and in /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons. A file name often includes the word update or updater, or the maker’s name. Browsing these folders in Finder is safe as long as you only look.

Inside the app’s own folder. Some apps keep their updater inside the app package or in a support folder in your Library. You will not usually need to go there.

In Foreman. Foreman has a Startup Apps page that lists login items, launch agents and daemons and the background items apps register, grouped by the app they belong to and shown with readable names. An updater appears under its app, so you can see at a glance which apps have a helper and whether it is enabled. You can Disable or Enable it there. It does not tell you what a given updater does, so the judgement is still yours.

For the wider question of how to find what starts at login, how to find out what starts when your Mac starts goes through every place.

What switching one off means

If you switch off an updater, the app does not stop working. What you lose is the automatic check. The app stays at the version you have until you update it yourself, which is a real consequence, especially for software that faces the internet.

So the sensible split is by risk:

• A web browser. Keep updates on. Browsers open pages from anywhere, and security fixes arrive often. Some browsers can still check for updates while they are open, but others rely on the separate helper, so if you turn one off, open the browser’s About page now and then, check that it still reports being up to date, and do not leave it on an old version.
• Office and similar suites. These handle files from other people, so security fixes matter. Update them regularly, whether by the updater or by hand.
• Apps you rarely use, or that do not touch the internet much. An updater you never benefit from is a fair thing to switch off. You can update when you next need the app.
• Apps that are installed but no longer used. Better to remove the app, and then clear the leftover updater, than to keep a background helper for something you do not open.

The cost of an updater that stays running is usually modest. It wakes up now and then, checks and goes back to sleep. The reason to switch it off is rarely performance. It is about knowing what runs on your Mac, and keeping the decision with you.

How to update by hand

If you decide to switch updaters off, set up a routine, or the decision will become a problem.

1. App Store apps. Open the App Store and check Updates, or let it update automatically.
2. macOS itself. Open System Settings, choose General, then Software Update.
3. Apps with a built-in check. Open the app and look in its menu, usually under the app name, for “Check for Updates”. Do this when you notice a new feature, or once a month.
4. Everything else. Visit the maker’s site and download the current version, or install it again over the old one.

Put a monthly reminder in your calendar if you tend to forget. A manual routine is only worth having if you actually follow it. If you know you will not, leave the updaters on, because a slightly busier background is a smaller problem than an old, unpatched app.

If an updater keeps coming back after you switch it off, the app may be registering it again each time it opens. In that case the app’s own setting is the place to change it, and why apps keep adding themselves to your login items explains why it happens.

A short rule of thumb

Leave updaters on for apps that connect to the internet or open files from other people. Consider switching them off for apps you rarely use, and delete the apps you do not use at all. Before you switch anything off, write down what it was, so you can switch it back. Foreman is $12 once and free for 24 hours if you want the single list, and System Settings is enough if you do not.