system preferences user Login items won't launch in catalina

Question

system preferences user Login items won't launch in catalina

Hi,

I need troubleshooting advise concerning login apps in System Preferences. Please help if you know of a solution. Thank you!!

I downloaded Catalina when it was introduced last year. User login items in System Preferences worked as expected. In the past few months various login items will not launch. Several are native apple apps such as: Messages, Notifications, and Calendar.

Additionally, the 1Password browser extension suddenly isn't launching as expected. I have CleanMyMac X installed, which notifies me that the "Apps are not responding," at which point I have to quit them. They usually launch after I quit them, but obviously this issue slows down the entire login process.

Oddly, other Apps, popular browser security extensions, launch as expected. This problem started before I downloaded the extensions. So, it doesn't appear to be related. There doesn't appear to be any malware on my system. I scan regularly with CleanMyMac X.

I deleted all user login items, and set them up again. No luck. Any advise on how to fix this?

Thanks very much for your help! Cheers!

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 2, 2020 11:09 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

steve626

Level 6

11,309 points

Oct 3, 2020 3:49 PM in response to Senior.Moment

Most of the more experienced people participating in this forum consider CleanMyMac to be a form of malware in and of itself. It has turned out to be the cause of many users' misfunctioning Macs in many postings in these Discussions. I suggest that one place to start is to completely uninstall and remove CleanMyMac. If you still have the problem, then another level of troubleshooting can begin.

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Answer 2

DiZoE

Level 4

3,009 points

Oct 2, 2020 11:55 PM in response to Senior.Moment

Hey there! Paculiar issue!

Can you boot to safe mode and see if the native apps launch at startup? (Of course third party apps may not launch anyway in safe mode).

Startup your Mac in safe mode:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/start-up-your-mac-in-safe-mode-mh21245/mac

Also, when you did remove the login items, did you by chance restart after adding each one to see if maybe it was only one that was causing an issue? That may be a good test.

Also, if possible, can you add a new Admin user, as a test, add the same login items, restart and test? That may also be a good indicator of the source problem.

Another test may be, once you do log in:

Open Activity Monitor from Finder > Applications > Utilities, is there anything using a lot of CPU, Network, etc?

Another step may be if you disable the internet completely, then restart and see if the issue happens, in case it’s a syncing issue, (Such as One Drive, iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc, using too many network resources)?

Of course two of the simplest and quickest resolution steps to take, whether you know the results of the above tests may be to just reset the SMC and PRAM, sometimes that’s all it takes as each works with a broad spectrum of functions:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Although those tests might yield more results as far as a possible cause. Thanks!

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Answer 3

DiZoE

Level 4

3,009 points

Oct 8, 2020 9:04 PM in response to Senior.Moment

Hey again! Although you seem to know your way around a Mac and maybe already use these resources, but this is one of my favorite resources, the Mac OS User Guide:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac

Another good resource I use from time to time, is the built in Help menu for each app:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/get-help-on-your-mac-hlpvw003/mac

I do find the Table of Contents really helpful at times, as there really is a whole lot to learn, which makes it especially hard to remember everything!

All the best!

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Answer 4

Oct 3, 2020 2:33 PM in response to DiZoE

Awesome! You've given me some excellent tools. It is a peculiar issue, for sure. I appreciate your time and expertise, and I'll try each of your suggestions, beginning with the last two. Also, thanks very much for including the instructional links to accomplish these tasks. I haven't a clue to what you refer on a couple of them, and you very correctly anticipated that might be the case! LOL!

I'll let you know the outcome. Thanks again!

Cheers!

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Answer 5

Oct 7, 2020 2:08 AM in response to steve626

Wow! That's not good. I've been using C. MyMac for probably eight or nine years. It has always appeared to work well, but I bring zero expertise to the subject. (We had manual typewriters when I was in school. Ha!) I will certainly do some reading. In a day your statement was reaffirmed.

Naturally, I'm curious. You may not be able to say on a public forum, or you might not give a sh*t who reads it. Can you point me to anywhere to read?

I appreciate your advise. I haven't had time to actually try any of it.

Cheers!

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Answer 6

Oct 14, 2020 9:33 PM in response to DiZoE

Thank you to the those who pitched in ideas. After reading your suggestions, I disabled the CleanMyMac "hung application warning". Turns out the system Apps weren't hung at all. Nothing needed to be done. It was slowing everything down to have this feature running in CMM. So, you helped solve the issue.

Thank you!

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Answer 7

DiZoE

Level 4

3,009 points

Oct 3, 2020 7:56 PM in response to Senior.Moment

No worries! (I guess I’ve been spelling “Peculiar” wrong all these years! 🙂 Good luck, and I’d have to agree steve626 on that for sure.

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system preferences user Login items won't launch in catalina

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