Login items on a Mac: what opens when you log in

The two lists explain most surprises at login. An item in Open at Login opens where you can see it, with its windows or its menu bar icon. An app switched on in the background list can run parts of itself you never see, such as an updater or a sync helper, even while the app isn't open.

Open at Login

Apple's guide describes it as the items that open automatically whenever you log in: apps, documents, folders or server connections. Each row shows the item's name and its kind. A warning icon next to an item (a yellow triangle on macOS 14) means it was moved or deleted, so it won't open.

Many apps add themselves to your login items when you turn on their own option, usually called something like Launch at login, and take themselves off when you turn it off. You can also add any app yourself, as shown below.

To skip login items once, hold Shift as you click Log In and let go when the Dock appears. If you don't see the login window, restart, hold Shift when the progress bar appears, and let go once the desktop appears. Nothing changes: your items open as usual next time.

Allow in the Background

The second list is called Allow in the Background on macOS 14 and 15, and App Background Activity on macOS 26 and later. Apple's description is the same in every version: it lets apps perform tasks when the app isn't open, such as checking for software updates or syncing data. Each app has one switch.

The entries are usually helpers an app installed, and the name in the list isn't always the app you'd expect. Apple's deployment guide says the info button next to an entry shows the item that's being launched. The same guide adds that on macOS 26 and later, if an app's background tasks keep running after you quit it, macOS asks whether to let them stay active.

Turning a switch off stops that app's background tasks, so whatever relied on them, such as automatic updates or syncing, can stop until you turn it back on. It doesn't uninstall anything. This list shows what's allowed to start; to see what's running right now, see which apps are running on your Mac.

Neither list is a privacy permission. Allowing an app in the background doesn't let it read your data or control other apps; permissions such as Accessibility are separate, in Privacy & Security.

Add or remove an app

1. Open Login Items & Extensions

   Choose Apple menu › System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Login Items & Extensions (Login Items on macOS 14). You may need to scroll down.

2. Add an item

   Click + below the Open at Login list, select an app, document, folder or server, then click Add.

3. Remove an item

   Select it in the Open at Login list, then click − below the list.

4. Turn background tasks on or off

   Use the app's switch in the second list.

The Dock has a shortcut for apps: Control-click an app's icon and choose Options › Open at Login to add or remove it. Apple's guide describes these settings for administrators of the Mac, so on a standard account you may need an administrator to change them.

An app is waiting for approval

Some apps tell you their login item is waiting for approval. Apple's developer documentation explains the state: the app registered the item, but you need to act in System Settings before it can run. macOS reports the same state when you turned the item off in System Settings earlier, so it can appear for an app you allowed before.

1. Open Login Items & Extensions

   Many apps that report this state have a button that opens the page for you. Otherwise use the steps above.

2. Turn the app on

   Look for it in both lists. If it's in the background list with its switch off, turn the switch on.

3. Go back to the app

   Its setting should now show that it's on. If the app isn't in either list, turn its own option off and on again, so it registers afresh, then check once more.

On macOS 14

The settings work the same way on macOS 14 Sonoma; a few names and places differ:

On macOS 14, Login Items appears on the right after you click General. Holding Shift at login works the same way in every version.

With Flick

Flick, the window switcher we make, doesn't start at login until you ask. Turn on Launch at login in Flick's Settings › General, or Start Flick at login on the last screen of its welcome window, and macOS opens Flick each time you log in. macOS opens Flick itself: Flick installs no helper tools or background services. The installation guide covers the switch during setup.

If macOS wants your approval first, Flick's Settings shows Waiting for approval, with “Allow Flick in Login Items.” and an Open Login Items button that takes you to the right page. Flick's switch always shows what macOS has on record, so a change you make in System Settings shows up in Flick too.

Start Flick at login, or fix Waiting for approval