Macbook Pro (2013) Apps opening when lid closes

Use another account for testing

If another user account is already set up on your Mac, you can simply log out of your account (Apple menu > Log Out) and log in with the other account. But the best way to test is with a newly created account:

1. Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.
2. Click , then enter an administrator name and password.
3. Click the Add button (+) below the list of users.
4. Complete the fields shown for a Standard or Administrator account, then click Create Account (or OK).

If you plan to test with any of the documents in your own account, make those documents available to the new account. Drag them to the Shared folder of the Users folder on your hard drive (~/Users/Shared). You can then move them to other folders after you log in as the new user.

Then log out of your account and log in with the new account:

1. Choose Apple menu > Log out.
2. At the login window, log in with the name and password of the new account. If you're also asked to sign in with an iCloud account or Apple ID, skip that step.

Now try to reproduce the issue in the new account. If you need to set up an email account or other account in order to test, you can do so.

If the issue doesn't happen in the other account

If the issue doesn't happen in the new user account, the issue is related to the settings or files in your own account.

If you need help with a specific alert or issue, search the Apple Support website for the text of the alert. If the issue happens in only one app in your account, it might be related to one of that app's settings. Check the app's documentation or support website for help.

You can remove the new user account when you're done testing. Follow the steps for creating a new account, but click the Remove button (–) instead of the Add button (+). Before removing the account, make sure that you don't need any of the files or settings you created or copied in that account.

If the issue happens in the other account

If the issue happens in the other user account:

• Make sure that your software is up to date.
• Try using Safe Mode to resolve the issue.
• Check for other software or hardware issues.

If you need more help with a software or hardware issue, contact Apple Support. Be sure to mention any steps you've taken, and the results of those steps. Also mention any alerts or other messages you've seen as part of the issue. You can take a screenshot of the message, so that you can refer to it later.

I've started making it a point to leave my mouse pointer on an empty area of the right side of the screen when I close the lid at night (my dock is on the left). The instances of random applications opening has stopped, but random web sites now open. I generally leave Firefox as the front-most application I have open. I'm guessing it's clicking on links now instead of clicking on applications in the dock.

Has this been solved? This started happening to me (same machine - late 2013 MBP) over the last couple of months. The first few times it happened, I wrote it off as a fluke. But as it happens frequently now, I'm curious as to what might be going on. The application(s) that are opened when closing the lid - and I know it's the lid closing that's the trigger for the issue because MacOS spoke to me last night when I closed the lid when it tried to launch an application that I hadn't opened before after doing an update to it, complaining that it was an application that I'd downloaded from the Internet and wanting my permission to open it anyway - are often not applications that I've opened recently. Not always, but frequently. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but my fear is that it's going to open an application and do something nutty like send out an email or delete a file or something that I'm certainly not telling it to do.

Sounds like maybe a bulging battery causing keys to get pressed on closing.