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Chrome adding itself to login items.

Since updating my MacOS to Ventura 13.0, every time I open Chrome, I get a System Settings notification that Chrome has been added to my login items.

The suggestions to remedy this problem involve removing Chrome from login items, but I am already logged in to my computer when this is happening: it's not that Chrome is opening itself at startup. It's that it's ADDING ITSELF to the startup menu every time I open Chrome.

I immediately remove it from the login items, but the next time I start Chrome, it adds itself to the login items.

How do I fix this? I have not found any settings in Chrome or in the Ventura 13.0 system settings that fix this.

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Nov 5, 2022 10:35 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 16, 2022 8:51 AM

Hello All,

I had the same issue with Chrome and apple support unable to provide a solution. they didn't even know where to look for the issue. After multiple investigations and cracking the Ventura/Chrome codes, I think I found the solution... It worked for me 100%.. I restarted the machine and launched Chrome

  1. If you have Chrome app added to the dock, remove it.
  2. Check all your extensions on the chrome. there might be some extensions that you have provided access for startup.. Remove all extensions..
  3. Close Chrome and clean-up your login startups one last time..
  4. Restart Chrome and let me know if it works...

Thanks and happy holidays.


47 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 16, 2022 8:51 AM in response to Mylorac

Hello All,

I had the same issue with Chrome and apple support unable to provide a solution. they didn't even know where to look for the issue. After multiple investigations and cracking the Ventura/Chrome codes, I think I found the solution... It worked for me 100%.. I restarted the machine and launched Chrome

  1. If you have Chrome app added to the dock, remove it.
  2. Check all your extensions on the chrome. there might be some extensions that you have provided access for startup.. Remove all extensions..
  3. Close Chrome and clean-up your login startups one last time..
  4. Restart Chrome and let me know if it works...

Thanks and happy holidays.


Dec 16, 2022 10:01 AM in response to Aswin_Kutteri

Aswin_Kutteri wrote:

It is strange that none of the steps mentioned in the community works for me.
Apple tech support does not have any solution.
What is the next step?


If the "Best Answer" to this Discussion did not answer your question, the next step is to ask a new question. To do that, click the Ask the Community link at the top of this page.

Dec 30, 2022 8:11 AM in response to Mylorac

Faced the same issue. In my case, culprit was "SessionBox" extension which is even a "Featured" item in Chrome Web Store.

Faced the same issue while using Brave Browser. I have posted on the Brave community forum as well.

How can an extension have no-questions-asked privilege of adding something to the "Login Items" in macOS?!


Also, I had the issue on macOS Monterey as well. So I don't think this is a Ventura problem. But, that said, I think Ventura introduced a feature which shows an alert/notification when something gets added to Login Items list. I have not seen such a notification on Monterey or earlier versions.


The following are the extensions that people seem to have identified as triggering this issue:

  • SessionBox
  • Feedly
  • VidIQ

Maybe the issue is some common library or component that all the above extensions are using.


So, the bigger question: how can a browser extension access Login Items on macOS?

Dec 14, 2022 9:11 PM in response to Mylorac

In my case, I was able to trace this behavior to the "Feedly" (RSS Reader) extension.

It's possible other extensions are causing the same behavior for other users.


  1. Disable all extensions
  2. Remove Chrome from Login Items
  3. Reenable extensions one at a time.
  4. In my case, Chrome added itself to Login Items as soon as I reenabled the Feedly extension, but the my next step in diagnosing this would be quitting and reopening Chrome after reenabling each extension.


Dec 30, 2022 8:12 AM in response to Techmetz

I have been facing this issue on macOS Monterey as well. So I don't think this is a Ventura problem. But, that said, I think Ventura introduced a feature which shows an alert/notification when something gets added to Login Items list. I have not seen such a notification on Monterey or earlier versions.


The following are the extensions that people seem to have identified as triggering this issue:

  • SessionBox
  • Feedly
  • VidIQ

Jan 10, 2023 3:58 PM in response to Mylorac

I had the same problem and found a fix that worked for me.


  1. I opened Chrome extensions and turned ALL of them off, then closed Chrome.
  2. I removed Chrome from the dock.
  3. I reopened Chrome (alas, did not add to startup items!)
  4. I opened extensions, then turned on ONE extension, then closed and reopened Chrome.
  5. I did this one-by-one for each extension until one of them "added Chrome to login items" (thus showing me which one caused the issue, so turned that one back off, and left it off for good).
  6. Then finally, I re-added Chrome to my dock and all is well.


That's what worked for me. Hope it helps someone else!

Jan 26, 2023 11:18 AM in response to JF

You might want to give Firefox a try on those sites. If it works then you can remove Chrome and all of it's associated support files (which are seemingly to reinstall each time) with the free app AppCleaner .


WARNING: If you use AppCleaner on an app that you have other apps from the same developer, like Adobe, you must be extremely careful checking all checkboxes and deleting.  Some for those files may support other apps from the same developer and deleting them can mess them up.  Adobe apps is a primary example. I know from experience.  For singular apps from a developer it's safe.


I won't use Chrome for the following reasons:


1 - It is known that Chrome and, in particular, the "keystone" daemons that it installs, completely hog the system videotoolbox, for no sane reason, and cause any video applications to crash or hang, even lose pieces of functionality.


2 - it mines your personal information about where you go on the internet, what you search form, etc. and sells it to the highest bidder.


I don't need that type of invasion into my activities.


Nov 9, 2022 4:55 AM in response to Mylorac

Yeah, this stinks. I keep Chrome on my system for the occasional site the doesn't play well with Safari. Every time you start Chrome, it adds it to your Login Items. You can remove it, and then the next time you open Chrome, it repeats this behavior. What gives?


*NVM, didn't see the link from @johngalt - I will research this.

Nov 28, 2022 11:28 PM in response to Thomas Z

Exactly. No matter how many times you remove it, it adds itself back. An Apple tech told me it's in my Chrome extensions, but we removed valuable extensions that would have been the culprit, & now I'm without those extensions & the PROBLEM PERSISTS. It automatically adds itself back to the login items sometime after startup. EVERY TIME.


You can call it a Chrome problem, but it's VENTURA that started it.

Dec 4, 2022 10:14 AM in response to grossmusic

I entirely agree with @grossmusic here. I have used Chrome without issues for years until I updated to VENTURA. Loads of extensions in Chrome have NEVER caused this problem until I upgraded to VENTURA. It is absolutely a VENTURA problem. I have researched up and down to solve it and nothing works. I sure hope Apple provides a fix for this.

Dec 10, 2022 9:08 AM in response to Mylorac

I am also having the same issue with Google Chrome adding itself to the "Login Items startup". I also started having issues with my fingerprinting not working as expected after the Ventura update. I have created a ticket for the fingerprinting issue and working with the apple support for the last 4 weeks and still not yet resolved.

They took the diagnostics dump from my MacBook Pro and was informed that it didn't have any use, or no resolution for me.

Apple needs to work harder either to test the new OS properly or fix the issues faster. They are now slowly becoming more like the MS Windows OS, releasing buggy OS to customer and then followed by multiple patches.

If Steve Jobs would be alive now, he would have thrown out the Ventura OS & its development team now.

Fix all the bugs..

Dec 13, 2022 12:24 PM in response to Mylorac

updated to Ventura 13.1 "don't know it's necessary" after that i started chrome disabled autostart in settings on my computer and also right click on chrome app on dock to disable open on login, then i went to chrome adds in settings to disable all adds then restarted chrome and activated all adds again. that fix workt for my Mac.

Chrome adding itself to login items.

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