Stop apps from reopening on restart in Yosemite

“When you request your restart” — I did not request a reboot. The computer rebooted unattended in the middle of the night. When I plan a reboot I terminate all Apps manually to make sure everything is properly saved. It's those unplanned and unrequested reboot which cause trouble.

When you shutdown or restart the computer you should see this dialog:

Uncheck the box.

When you request your restart (or shut down), a check box appears stating something like "Reopen windows when logging back in". Make sure it is checked or unchecked as you wish.

Also check System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items

....this is obvious but

how to disable resume after install drivers or after a system crash?

This is very bad situation because when a system crash happens i do not want wait 20 minutes!ì in order that all apps that was openeg and maybe there is the one that have caused the system crash ...

I know about use "Shift during startup but this is not always possible and this requires a lot of time because restart as SAFE MODE is not a solution of this question

how to permanently disable this not professional feature?

Thanks

There are only two other areas you can check. First, open Users & Groups and click on Login Items tab. Disable any entries you don't want started at login by selecting them and clicking on the Delete [-] button.

Next, open General preferences and check the second option here:

I have this same problem. There should be a way to disable this in Preferences. I believe I've unchecked the box when I manually restart, and the apps open anyway.

Very helpful as clicking that "OBVIOUS box" doesn't override a locked assignment in the Login Items Start up menu.

bobfliesaloneatnightwithhisdog wrote:

Very helpful as clicking that "OBVIOUS box" doesn't override a locked assignment in the Login Items Start up menu.

Nor should it override a locked assignment. If an assignment is locked and not removed with a password, there is a reason.

It's a good start: now, how do I make the box default to being unchecked? I presume there should be some command I can launch in Terminal to change that setting.

Yes, good to find this thread. I too had trouble finding the correct nomenclature for the problem.

I think at least some of my problems with Yosemite's slowness has to do with the inordinate amount of time it takes to reload everything after a crash. And when things crash you don't get that window with the "are you sure you want to shut down your computer now" message. Strangely, I remembering see, on some of the other accounts on my iMac, a message that would pop up when I'd restart an account asking, "do you want to reload the programs that were open when the computer crashed", or something like that. However, I never get this message on my account. I hope someone comes up with a simple way to prevent everything from reloading on reboot.

As the author notes in his original post, unchecking the box does not actually work. All windows still reopen upon restarting.

(It's also regardless of whether they are checked "login items" for that user or not.)

I've had this problem throughout OSX versions... and have a very standard setup: Macbook Pro, this year, with all regular upgrades.

My question is not so much with the previously open apps reloading after a restart, but what about an app that wasn't open when it was shut down. Every time I have to force quit, Keynote opens. Why? Any ideas about how can I eliminate that?

Thank you so much for your answer! Chrome was driving me nuts! Going to the Users and Groups settings did the trick.

That's a terrific tip. I had the same problem that others have mentioned here: all my programs from a previous session reopening when I restart my Mini (running Yosemite). And the solution is so simple! I did it and the problem has gone away. Many thanks.

I feel the same way about Chrome, it drives me nuts.