What is the "Google LLC" login item and what is it doing? It just added itself to my login items.

Arthur7 wrote:

Google LLC is a login item of unknown origin to all on the thread.

Absolutely not! It is not a login item of unknown origin. It isn't a login item at all. It originates from "Google LLC".

No one seems to know what it does.

It's Google. It collects personal information. Doh!

No one can say if it is in any way related to Google Updater.

It is absolute related. They are both signed with "Google LLC" (apparently).

Standby and many will be scouring the internet and other resources to answer those questions and some will just return with long-winded sarcastic comments.

You'll never get any long-winded sarcastic comments from me!

It is a save guess to presume: using Google Chrome leads to getting that Google LLC on your computer. But I got that same indication just today, and I don’t have Chrome nor any other Google software installed (at least, none I am aware to come from Google). And the Macbook Pro is quite new, there are no apps installed years agot I have forgotten since.

What I did just prior to the OS indication was starting a movie on YouTube in Safari. Can just browsing a Google-owned website lead to the installation of a background app in my OS?

In my experience, the majority of non-helpful answers appear because the responder failed to read the question. For example, a person will write, "As a last resort, I even tried to unplug and reconnect," and someone will answer, "You need to reconnect the device."

Or one of us will write, "I have no Google software installed," and someone will answer, "The problem is Google software you have installed." Again, more than half the time, they simply don't read the post.

In my experience, when "senior" forum members engage in an apparent joint attempt to beat around the bush, it's simply because the topic is not something that should be the focus of a discussion, which in this case is:

Why and how was Google LLC able to add itself to the login items list as a NEW item (apparently even on brand new Macs which have no Google software installed on them!), without having the user's previous consent? Every other software that I use which requires this will ask for my consent BEFOREHAND.

Not working, apparently :) I also just found these threads because that thing added itself to the login items list out of the blue and the way I see it, a high amount of diversion is going on because of a simple question.

adrianfulop wrote:

Why and how was Google LLC able to add itself to the login items list as a NEW item (apparently even on brand new Macs which have no Google software installed on them!), without having the user's previous consent? Every other software that I use which requires this will ask for my consent BEFOREHAND.

This doesn't happen. It's not possible. You're just confused. Sorry, but that's the way it is. This stuff is crazy complicated. No. It's far more complicated than that. It's really, really insanely complicated.

Well, you did write "you gave Google full access over your computer and all of your data". This implies full access to the disk :) Even if it's not full access, then at least access to the user data, which I didn't grant it (or at least I thought I didn't by unticking some boxes :) )

Also, I really want to understand what you mean by "I gave my administrator password to Google by installing their software". Are you implying that when you install an app on macOS and the system asks for your administrator password, that password is actually being given to the software developer?

As for deleting the file, of course I meant deleting the plist files which add the Google LLC entry to your login items.

As for "clean up" apps, I actually use App Cleaner and I'm very happy with it. I can delete (almost) all associated files in one click (which the uninstaller usually doesn't), instead of manually finding and deleting them. (I also use your app actually, which I find useful for finding out problems on my MBP.)

As for Google being one of the better apps, let me just tell you this story... this morning I noticed my Android TV, which was on standby, which is not connected to the internet, which has all useless apps removed, all useless settings turned off and which I only ever use to watch content from the box connected through HDMI , was being discovered by my MBP's Bluetooth :) As soon as I turned the TV on, the entry miraculously disappeared :)

Yeah, your sarcasm can be felt even without the <sarcasm> tag here.

Do tell me though, how can a LaunchDaemon add a NEW entry to the login list, expect for the one it was already adding?

The key point here is we have a NEW entry, which was not there before.

+1 for the appropriate use and correct spelling of "free rein" 👍

After so many years Apple decides to actively inform people of the fact they installed Google on their Macs. Yet somehow that's Apple's problem.

Thank you for your explanations.

I simply brought up the Android TV story because you wrote Google is one of the better apps :) Besides, I didn't buy the TV because it runs Android, it bought it because it was cheap. I'm using an Android TV box for the sole reason of being able to watch Youtube without ads :)

harenet wrote:

To clarify, I was responding to John Galt, not to your response, so apologies if there was a misunderstanding there.

No misunderstanding. So few people actually respond to the person they intend to respond to that it isn't worth even looking at. Most of the time, they respond to themselves.

That said, I don't expect anyone to know these answers. I'm just hoping someone with more skill or knowledge than I have will be able to help me and others with the same questions find the answers.

Knowing the answer is the easy part. Getting anyone to accept it is the Impossible Challenge.

Hey there. I've been struggling with this Chrome issue, too, but unlike the OP, I want to completely uninstall Chrome and Google Updater and keep it that way. I've used several different web pages recommendations of files to search for and remove in /Library and ~/Library. In fact I went through every single folder in the libraries and checked for anything with "Google" or "Keystone." Delete, empty trash, restart computer. No sign of Chrome or anything Google in the "Background Items" list. A few days later, Chrome is reinstalled on my computer and the files are all replaced by some automatic process. Any ideas?

harenet wrote:

I'm new to these forums. Is there an etiquette or protocol when it comes to duplicate questions? Is there any reason I shouldn't just copy and paste this question there as well?

Duplicate Questions by the same User on the same day, regardless of where the user should post the question.

They are, generally subject to the discretion of the Apple Moderators to Action such Duplicate Questions.

I'd be asking that question over at a Google forum. Incidentally, there are browsers based on Chrome, with all the tracking and other junk stripped out, like Brave and Vivaldi.