Remove Startup Items in System Preferences

For business owners, modifying startup programs can be beneficial -- especially if there are programs you use frequently for business activities.

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Click the check box next to programs to hide when you log in. Highlight a program to remove from the startup and click the "-" minus icon. Click "Applications" from the box that opens, select the program to add, then click "Add. Click the padlock icon to save your changes and prevent additional, unauthorized modification.

How to Stop Programs from Running on Startup on Mac - Make Tech Easier

Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. This article was written by the It Still Works team, copy edited and fact checked through a multi-point auditing system, in efforts to ensure our readers only receive the best information. How come none of my friends were having this problem? Where is the phone? Never mind that.

Where is my kid - the one who knows everything! It turns out that a few other people have had the same problem. I got some advice. It could be an incompatibility with a third party application, and that led to learning all about using "Safe" mode in Mac OS X. The first thing I did was turn off the applications that I had set to automatically open when my computer is turned on because any one of them would be the most likely culprit.

Take control of startup and login items

I also had to check to see if any new one has been slipped in by any new applications I might have recently installed. That happens you know. Some applications will include an automatic "start up at installation" component as a necessary part to their software. It makes sense if you think about it.

If you install software that is supposed to display a button in your Menu Bar to notify you of something, such as the availability of wireless in your area, something will have to trigger that software to become active while your computer is turned on. The software maker assumes you want that to happen automatically and they put a trigger in your startup menu.

You have the option to leave it there or to remove it and turn the notification button on manually every time you need it. Then choose your administrator account and select Login Items.


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To remove something from the list click on it to highlight it and click on the minus sign at the bottom of the window. Donit forget to lock the Accounts Window when you are finished, for security. A Safe Boot takes longer than a regular start up.


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  7. It also disables some of your regular tools, making what is effectively a minimal version of the operating system, a "safe boot. But what it also does is forces a directory check of the startup volume.

    1. Via Users & Groups > Login Items

    Depending on which version of OS X you are running it does somewhat different things, but the bottom line is it works around software or directory damage on the startup volume. My bottom line is that whatever the problem was seems to have been solved once I pulled out those startup items. No more problems with Mail and no more problems opening my applications. I was able to restart my computer in normal mode and everything is still working just fine.

    As soon as I get time, I will start adding back in the few applications I had in my start up menu to see if any of them bring back the problem. The entire Table of Contents and a sample page are available for free review for anyone who wishes to see them.