FelixH

Q: How to stop auto launch of apps?

Hello,

 

on my mac running macOS Sierra the apps TextEdit, Safari and AppStrore are started when user logs in.

I have checked the startup items in the user settings and also the folder <user>/Library/StartupItems. There are no entries that point to one of the applications.

The folders <user>/Library/LaunchAgents and <user>/Library/LaunchDaemons do not show any files pointing to one of the apps.

 

Any ideas how to analyze and stop this behavior?

 

Thx

Felix

Posted on Oct 2, 2016 9:48 AM

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Q: How to stop auto launch of apps?

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  • by trevoz,

    trevoz trevoz Oct 2, 2016 4:54 PM in response to FelixH
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 4:54 PM in response to FelixH

    Do the apps appear in the Dock and have Options > Open at login set?

  • by FelixH,

    FelixH FelixH Oct 3, 2016 1:44 AM in response to trevoz
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 1:44 AM in response to trevoz

    The apps appear in the dock and "Open at login" is not checked.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Oct 3, 2016 3:28 AM in response to FelixH
    Level 6 (12,545 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 3:28 AM in response to FelixH

    1) Under System Preferences->Users&Groups, click the user account, look for Login Items?

    2) If the apps are running when you shutdown your mac, they will start again unless you set it otherwise:

     

       Screen Shot 2016-10-03 at 11.27.35.png

  • by trevoz,

    trevoz trevoz Oct 3, 2016 3:42 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 3:42 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    In a Terminal window type/paste the command:

     

    launchctl list | grep -i textedit

     

    and paste the results here.

  • by FelixH,

    FelixH FelixH Oct 3, 2016 4:01 AM in response to trevoz
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 4:01 AM in response to trevoz

    Output see below:

     

    launchctl list | grep -i textedit

    381 0 com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000001.TextEdit

     

    launchctl list | grep -i safari

    - 0 com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing.Service

    494 0 com.apple.SafariNotificationAgent

    376 0 com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000000.Safari

    598 0 com.apple.SafariCloudHistoryPushAgent

    - 0 com.apple.SafariPlugInUpdateNotifier

    - 0 com.apple.safaridavclient

  • by FelixH,

    FelixH FelixH Oct 3, 2016 4:03 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 4:03 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Both options checked.

    There is neither an entry in the login items list nor the checkmark.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Oct 3, 2016 4:06 AM in response to FelixH
    Level 6 (12,545 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 4:06 AM in response to FelixH

    Quit all applications, then log out and log back in. Do these applications still start automatically?

  • by FelixH,

    FelixH FelixH Oct 3, 2016 4:13 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 4:13 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Yes, they will.

  • by trevoz,

    trevoz trevoz Oct 3, 2016 4:25 AM in response to FelixH
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 4:25 AM in response to FelixH

    OK. Well, oneshot indicates that these apps are being started at login by the GUI. This is what normally happens when you check "open at login" and they would normally show up in Preferences > Users and Groups > [User] > Login items.

     

    Have you checked in the system /Library/LaunchDaemons folder? You mentioned all the other locations, but not this one.

  • by FelixH,

    FelixH FelixH Oct 3, 2016 4:36 AM in response to trevoz
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 4:36 AM in response to trevoz

    Yes, I have checked this folder. I did not find anything that indicates me that there is something wrong.

  • by trevoz,

    trevoz trevoz Oct 3, 2016 5:02 AM in response to FelixH
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 5:02 AM in response to FelixH

    Have you checked in the system /Library/LaunchAgents folder? (I missed that one before)

     

    If you run the following command in a Terminal window, is the result zero?

     

    defaults read com.apple.systempreferences.plist NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows

  • by FelixH,

    FelixH FelixH Oct 3, 2016 5:07 AM in response to trevoz
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 5:07 AM in response to trevoz

    $ cd /System/Library/LaunchAgents/

    $ ls -al | grep -i textedit

    $ ls -al | grep -i safari

    -rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel   636  7 Aug 02:19 com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing.Service.plist

    -rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel   597 13 Aug 06:48 com.apple.SafariCloudHistoryPushAgent.plist

    -rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel   865 14 Sep 00:51 com.apple.SafariNotificationAgent.plist

    -rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel   779 14 Sep 00:51 com.apple.SafariPlugInUpdateNotifier.plist

    -rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel   594 31 Jul 05:16 com.apple.safaridavclient.plist

    $ cd ../LaunchDaemons/

    $ ls -al | grep -i textedit

    $ ls -al | grep -i safari

     

    $ defaults read com.apple.systempreferences.plist NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows

    0

  • by trevoz,

    trevoz trevoz Oct 3, 2016 5:14 AM in response to trevoz
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 5:14 AM in response to trevoz

    And, yet another location, the system /Library/StartupItems folder?

     

    If all else fails, try in a Terminal window:

     

    rm -r "~/Library/Saved Application State/*"

  • by FelixH,

    FelixH FelixH Oct 3, 2016 5:14 AM in response to trevoz
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 5:14 AM in response to trevoz

    $ cd ../StartupItems/

    $ ls -al

    total 0

    drwxr-xr-x   2 root  wheel    68 30 Jul 22:43 .

    drwxr-xr-x  91 root  wheel  3094  2 Okt 14:31 ..

     

    :-(

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