How to Stop Apps from Opening at Startup on Mac in macOS Ventura

That doesn't work because there are apps that don't even show up in that list, and they still open up every. single. time I start up my iMac. Half of these are apps I haven't used in months. The only time I see them is on startup (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint). And there doesn't seem to be an option within the app to stop this happening.

The best and quickest way to prevent apps from opening again at startup is to do the following prior to shutdown:

1. Click the apple icon at the top left of your screen (A menu screen will pop up).
2. Select "Force Quit" in the menu screen (Another menu screen will pop up with a list of the active apps).
3. Select the apps that you want to close prior to startup (Hold down the command key to select multiple apps).
4. Click the "Force Quit" box and the selected apps will disappear (The "Finder" app will remain and will not pop up at startup).
5. Click the apple icon at the top left of your screen (A menu screen will pop up).
6. Select "Shutdown" (Your active apps will not pop up again at startup).

That does't work for me. Other suggestions?

i attempted to do this with Acrobat Reader and there seems to be no way to turn it off. i've spent an hour going through every menu and option in acrobat and it launches on restart every time even though i've attempted to disable it in every way possible.

There are apps that open up that weren't being worked on when the computer was shut down. They're not in system preferences as 'open on start-up' and yet they do. Frustrating!

Hey,

You need to check if the application is pinned on Doc and opens when you start up your Mac; you can stop the application from opening on startup of your Mac. Follow these steps to shut them down:

Right-click on the App you want to stop opening >>> Click Options >>> Uncheck the Open at Login option.

That's it.

Spotify is one such app you have to change in it's preferences.

Yes…

Alternatively you can quit running apps before you shut down.

Usually the solution is to go to the login list and (-) it out. But, if there’s nothing in the login list, what do you do? These apps, clicked on at least once, are running in the background and you don’t know it. So, the quick solution is to go back to the APP in the Dock after you’re finished, right click on it, then click QUIT in the pop-up menu. The next time you sign in on your Mac, it will not open automatically upon startup. Do this with all the apps that used. Hope this helps.

I have the same issue, and did try all suggested solutions.

Go to System Settings, General, Login Items. Select Messages (Under 'Open at Login') then hit the minus button below the list.

I might have found it on accident. In the dock after i have used an app i tried a right click and discovered all the programs that would open were the ones that were "opened but not opened" i did this and they don't open anymore.

Usually the solution is to go to the login list and (-) it out. But, if there’s nothing in the login list, what do you do? These apps, clicked on at least once, are running in the background and you don’t know it. So, the quick solution is to go back to the APP in the Dock after you’re finished, right click on it, then click QUIT in the pop-up menu. The next time you sign in on your Mac, it will not open automatically upon startup. Do this with all the apps that you used. Hope this helps.

Type the following command and this will list the current login items.

defaults read loginwindow AutoLaunchedApplicationDictionary

To remove a specific app, use the following command, replacing AppName with the name of the app:

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to delete every login item whose name is "AppName"'