Does many applications automatically open every time your Mac restarts? Many applications want to launch automatically when you start your computer.

This can make your Mac feel slower, especially if you are not using these applications. Fortunately, Apple makes it quite easy to disable automatically launched applications in macOS 26 Tahoe.

Speed Up Your Mac: How to Manage Login Items in macOS 26 Tahoe

Applications like Spotify, Discord, Steam, and other popular Mac software automatically launch by default when you start your Mac.

You can manually close each application every time if you do not need them running.

However, they will automatically open again on the next restart.

This can be frustrating if you are restarting after a Mac software update or to resolve an issue.

macOS 26 Tahoe offers two methods to disable automatic launching.

Disable 'Open at Login' from the Dock

First, you can right-click on the application icon. This method only works for applications that are in your Dock.

This will open a menu that includes Options. Hover over Options to see the Open at Login option.

If there is a checkmark next to the Open at Login option, the application will open automatically. If there is no checkmark, it will not.

This method is a practical way to disable an application from automatically opening after a restart.

Manage All 'Open at Login' Applications

System Settings allows you to see every application that is set to open automatically on your Mac.

Launch the System Settings application, select General from the sidebar, then scroll down to select Login Items and Extensions.

The top section named Open at Login contains a list of applications that will open automatically when your Mac starts up.

Click on the application you want to remove, then click the minus sign (-) to remove it from the list.

Removing applications from this list permanently prevents them from opening automatically when your Mac restarts.

The same section in System Settings also allows you to manage Application Background Activity. Items cannot be removed from this list.

Instead, you can toggle Application Background Activity on and off for each application.

Older macOS versions, known as System Preferences, hide this section under Users and Groups.

The current method in macOS 26 Tahoe is much easier in terms of management and control.

For more information on managing Login Items in macOS Tahoe 26, check out Apple's support document.

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