Managing Your Startup Items

July 29th, 2007 at 3:00 PM - Tips by Jeff Gamet

Every time you start up your Mac and log into your user account, there may be several applications that start up, too. Auto-launching applications when you log in can save you from having to manually launch programs, but some apps add their own items to that list -- and they donit always let you know that they have.

If your Login Items list has grown beyond what you want, you may find that it takes longer for your Mac to complete the startup and login process, and your computer may run slower than it should. Of course, Apple has given us a way to manage what launches when we log in, even if an installer added items without telling us. Hereis how:

• Launch System Preferences. You can find it by choosing Apple menu > System Preferences.
• Select the Accounts Preference Pane.
• Click the Login Items tab.

Now you should see a list of the items that launch every time you login. If something looks cryptic and you arenit sure what it does, just hover your mouse over the itemis name. Mac OS X will show you where on your hard drive the item lives, which usually offers a pretty good hint as to what those mystery items are for.

• Once you find an item you want to remove from your Login Items list, click it once to select it.
• Now click the minus button at the bottom left of the item list to remove it.

Removing something from your login items doesnit delete it from your Mac. Instead, it leaves the original item intact, which is good because sometimes those login items are components inside an application, and removing them could leave you with programs that fail to launch correctly.

Keep in mind that some of the items in your Login Items list may be necessary for certain devices or applications to function correctly. If you want to double-check before removing something from the list, just do a quick Google search on the itemis name. That usually finds a page that details exactly what the item does.

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