How to stop apps starting automatically on the Mac for extra speed

Some apps on the Apple Mac automatically start when you log in, even after deleting them. They slow down startup and affect memory and performance. Stop unwanted ones to speed up your Mac.

The Apple Mac and its operating system is a lot more complicated than many people think. It looks simple on the surface, but this is deceptive and there is more going on under the surface than meets the eye. For example, I was using Avast Passwords for Mac a while back and it is a great password manager. However, I test a lot of software and I can’t keep everything, so I decided to remove it. Avast Passwords had added a menubar icon that is used to open the app. Even after deleting it, this menubar icon continued to appear and show its menu when clicked.

There is a similar problem with Avira Phantom VPN. Even after uninstalling the app, there are still file traces on the Mac and they may run on startup. You might not see anything, but if you dig around on the disk, you can find the files.

Uninstalling apps on the Mac looks easy and everyone knows that all you need to do is to drag the app to the Trash. Unfortunately, it is a lot more complicated than that and this can result in partially uninstalled apps, leftover files, and startup items. This article shows the problems uninstalling apps. Uninstalled apps can continue to run on startup.

Sometimes you want to start apps to automatically start, but sometimes they are an irritation. You may not need them today, but they load, slowing down startup and using memory and CPU power. Stopping them should be easy, but this is not always the case.

First I will show the obvious place to look for startup items and then I will show alternative places where apps can hide startup settings. I also look at a utility that makes the task easier. First though, let's look at manually stopping startup items.

Startup items

Apps can be set the automatically start when you boot up the Mac and log in in several ways. Here is the simplest:

1. Go to the Apple menu and click System Preferences.
2. Click Users & Groups.
3. Select the Login Items tab.

This shows a list of the apps that automatically start when you log in. It does not show all apps that run when you log uin, but it is the first place to look when you want to stop an auto-starting app. Select an app in the list and click the minus button below to prevent it from running on startup.

Remove apps from the Login Items list to speed up startup

If you want an app to start when you log in, click the plus button and then select the app in the Applications folder. However, each app you add slows down startup and uses CPU and memory, so make this startup list as short as possible.

Check the library

Most apps do not use Login Items in System Preferences to run on startup. They use a different method and you must explore system folders to find the startup items. Open a Finder window and select the Mac’s disk in the sidebar. Select the Library folder and in it are three folders:

• LaunchAgents
• LaunchDaemons
• StartupItems

Open each folder and see what it contains. The filenames are often long and complicated, but they usually contain the app name or the developer’s name. This helps you to identify them.

In the screenshot below you can see there are three items in LaunchAgents and they are from Adobe, Google and Parallels. It is easy to match these with the apps - Adobe Reader, Google Chrome or Drive, and Parallels Desktop. Delete any file if it refers to an app that you have deleted or if you don’t want it to automatically start when you log in.

Repeat this with the LaunchDaemons folder and the StartupItems folder - delete anything related to apps you have uninstalled or don't need. However, do not delete anything you are unsure about.

Check the system library

There is another set of folders called LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons and StartupItems in a different location on the disk. Select the Mac’s disk again in Finder and this time open System > Library. Open those three folders again and look for apps you don’t want or have deleted.

The system library is where macOS loads its startup items and you probably won’t find third party apps in here. However, you should still check. Only delete a file if you are absolutely sure it is for an app you don’t want and don’t delete any macOS system files.

Check your personal library

We aren’t done yet and there is a third set of folders called LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons and StartupItems. These are your personal startup folders. Click Finder's Go menu, hold down the Option key and click Library. There are a lot of system files here, so take care not to delete any. There may also be third party apps, so look at the filenames and see if you can spot anything that should not be there.

So that’s three folders in three different locations, all possibly containing startup items. Check them all.

Use CleanMyMac to stop startup items

CleanMyMac X is a multi-function utility that does many performance, cleanup, optimization, security and other tasks. Select Optimization in the sidebar and in the middle there are Login Items and Launch Agents. (Ignore the other two items).

The app reads the locations that were listed and produces a list of all the startup items found. You may be surprised to see items you thought you had deleted and apps you didn't know were starting with the Mac.

On the left of each app is a circle. Click it to select a login item and then click the Remove button at the bottom of the window to remove the entry. It does not delete the app, it just removes it from the Login Items list. Not all Login Items can be removed for various reasons. Those with an i in the circle cannot. Usually there is an option in the app's preferences to stop it starting with the Mac.

On the right is an Enabled/Disabled list. Click this to allow or prevent an item from starting with the Mac. Disable items to speed up startup and reduce memory and CPU usage once the Mac reaches the desktop. Don't disable anything you might need though. Not that it does any harm, it just means that if you need the app, you must manually run it.

This is obviously much easier than using Finder to track down multiple folders buried in the system on the disk and probably safer if you don't know what you are doing. You can just tick items for deleted and toggle Enabled/Disabled status with a click.

I have been using CleanMyMac X for a while now and it seems pretty good. (Affiliate links ahead!) If you want to know more, see CleanMyMac X features here, to check the latest price for CleanMyMac X.