Stop apps launching at login and running in the background — via Apple Support

Hidden settinglow riskmacOS 14 Sonoma and later

Many apps add themselves to your login, or install background helpers that run all the time. Trimming them makes start-up faster and saves memory and battery. macOS lists both kinds in one place.

Takes effect right away

How to do it

  1. Open System Settings > General > Login Items (called Login Items & Extensions in newer versions).
  2. Under Open at Login, select apps you don't need at start-up and click –.
  3. In the background section (Allow in the Background or App Background Activity, depending on version), switch off helpers for apps you don't use.
Turning off a background item can stop an app's sync, update or menu bar features. Some apps switch their items back on. If you see something you don't recognise, look it up before trusting it.

Sources

Source reviewed
2026-11-02
Link checked
2026-11-02
Tested hands-on
Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every macOS version, so keep the undo handy.

login itemsstartup appsbackground itemsslow startuplaunch agents

More in Performance & Power

Check memory pressure, not 'free RAM' — via Apple Support

Tricklow risk

A Mac that shows almost no free memory is usually fine: macOS keeps recently used files cached in RAM so apps reopen faster. The number that matters is the Memory Pressure graph in Activity Monitor, which combines free memory, swap and cached files.