How do I remove startup items in MacOS

[andrewp]

Hey, my mac has gotten a little slow due to a lot of software installed...
Watching the activity monitor shows me that a lot unnecessary items are running. These are items that I don't want to uninstall but use like 2 times a month so there's no need to have them running all the time.

In Windows I'm used to go into Msconfig and edit the startup section. In Mac OSX i've heard that I should go to account-loginitems, but the only thing showing up is Ituneshelper...

Can anyone tell me where I can find the full list of the startup programs?

 

[dalvin200]

Hey, my mac has gotten a little slow due to a lot of software installed...
Watching the activity monitor shows me that a lot unnecessary items are running. These are items that I don't want to uninstall but use like 2 times a month so there's no need to have them running all the time.

In Windows I'm used to go into Msconfig and edit the startup section. In Mac OSX i've heard that I should go to account-loginitems, but the only thing showing up is Ituneshelper...

Can anyone tell me where I can find the full list of the startup programs?

system prefs -> accounts -> choose your account -> login items

 

[andrewp]

system prefs -> accounts -> choose your account -> login items

Thanks, but as mentioned it only shows me Itunes helper and nothing else. Am I missing something?

 

[rdowns]

Watching the activity monitor shows me that a lot unnecessary items are running. These are items that I don't want to uninstall but use like 2 times a month so there's no need to have them running all the time.

What is running that you deem unnecessary?

 

[andrewp]

What is running that you deem unnecessary?

An external audio interface driver, 3 processes for my HP wireless printer that I rarely use and some more...

Fact is that my mac used to run extremely fast as soon as it entered the OS, now it takes like 30sec to achieve the same speed. So by eliminating these processes I will be able to get some of the speed back...

 

[xUKHCx]

Check out the folders

/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/StartupItems

Some items of software put things in there.

Of course if you know the names of the bits of software then you can do a spotlight search for them (including System files)

 

[redwarrior]

Is it safe to just take stuff out of there? Qmaster is one that I don't think I need.😕

I have to search for "tap" and "tun" 😱

 

[yashrg]

How about Plex media manager? Is there a way I can remove it from startup items without having to uninstall it completely? I don't see it listed in "login items" I don't see it in /library/startupitems or /system/library/startupitems This is really baffling!

 

[Weaselboy]

How about Plex media manager? Is there a way I can remove it from startup items without having to uninstall it completely? I don't see it listed in "login items" I don't see it in /library/startupitems or /system/library/startupitems This is really baffling!

Here is a step by step to remove Plex.