How can you stop apps from running when your Mac starts up?

Gaurav Rathore
Gaurav Rathore

Tech Writer

His write-ups blend creativity, personal experience, and tailored technical advice, meeting reader needs effectively.

5 min read

What you will notice a lot of the time is that when you try to stop apps from running, that will boost the performance of your Mac. So it’s in your best interests to stop apps from running whenever the Mac is starting up. With that in mind, some apps are necessary. But there are also a lot of apps that you just don’t want running because they slow down performance. So it’s always important to find methods that will help ensure only the apps you want will run upon the Mac starting up. 

Why do some apps run at startup?

The thing we have to realize is that some apps are automatically starting up with your Mac because they need to do so. It becomes easier for them to set up in the background so you can access all their functions without any hassle. With that in mind, not all of the apps will do that. But there are also some that automatically start with the device, even if that’s not necessary for them to function. When you try to remove some startup apps, those are the apps that you want to target.

Realistically, whenever apps launch at startup, that will consume resources. And if your Mac is older, you might not have access to those resources, so keep that in mind. It’s a much better idea to avoid any rush and ensure that everything is working exactly as expected. With that in mind, here’s how to stop the apps from running at startup.

Use a Mac cleanup tool

The thing is, a lot of the time the best method to use here is a Mac cleanup tool. These tools also have a section where you control what apps launch at startup with your device. And realistically, you won’t need every single app to launch at startup. For most people, using this type of feature is very handy, because it prevents problems, while saving a significant amount of time. It’s stuff like that which will help provide a good experience.

Remove login items

You can go to the System Settings, General and here you choose the Login items. From that list, you should leave only those apps that you actually want to start up with your device. A lot of the time, being able to remove those login items can be very seamless and easy. And if you do it properly, it can provide a very good outcome. With that being said, it does come in handy if you remove the login items as fast as you can, since once you restart, they will not be there anymore. That means less resources are consumed, and the overall experience is a better one.

Turn off autorun in the app settings

Instead of doing that, you can modify settings individually for those apps that you don’t want to start automatically. For example, you go to the menu bar of the app, you select the settings or preferences, and in there you can choose for the app to start up or not start up with your Mac. Granted, this is more tedious because you have to do it with each app individually. But it certainly works, and that’s the thing you want to pursue in the end.

Is it necessary to stop apps from running at startup?

As always, it depends on what resources your device has, and how you can access those. A lot of the time, we all want to avoid using too many resources. That’s why saving resources is crucial, and it can lead to a great experience, overall. We think that stopping apps from running can be a positive thing, provided that you know what you are doing. 

For most people, using these tips above will be handy, mainly because you can speed up the launch process for your device. The thing is, if you have too many apps that start up with your device, that can lead to a prolonged process. And since we all want that startup process to be quick and effective, being able to choose what apps to start up with the device and what needs to be stopped, that can be extremely helpful.

Conclusion

So, should you use these tips as a way to stop apps from running when the Mac starts up? It always comes down to what apps you have, as some will have more impact on the startup speed when compared to others. Understanding the overall impact and learning how to handle these challenges can be very effective. With that in mind, we always encourage you to create a list with the apps that you need to start with the device. Check the list often and purge those apps that are not on the list, as they most likely added themselves automatically to the startup list!




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