Unknown login item - how to get rid of it?

[Fishrrman]

Hardware: 2021 MacBook Pro 14".
OS: Sonoma 14.4.1.

In System Settings --> Login Items --> Allow in the Background...

... I have this:

I would search for it using EasyFind, but of course I have no idea what it is.
I can't copy the characters (I would try to paste them into an online translater).

It's "shut off", but I'd still like to remove it.

Hmmm... are there specific folders buried "deeper down" that I might search to uncover this?

 

[Nermal]

Sounds like it might be "PD Runner". Does that ring a bell at all?

 

[Solenoid289]

Looks like uninstalled app's leftover.
Have you checked plist files in these folders?

~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

 

[Fishrrman]

"Does that ring a bell at all?"

Yes it does. I experimented with that once, but don't use it now.
Thanks...

 

[Fishrrman]

Re Solenoid's reply 3 above:

I looked in all those locations, and couldn't find a file with Asian characters in it.
If it's on the drive, it must be hiding somewhere else...

 

[bogdanw]

Have you tried with KnockKnock?
https://objective-see.org/products/knockknock.html

 

[KALLT]

I looked in all those locations, and couldn't find a file with Asian characters in it.
If it's on the drive, it must be hiding somewhere else...

The LaunchAgent/LaunchDaemon file does not need to have the same name as in System Settings. System Settings can also show the name of the app to which the LaunchAgent/LaunchDaemon refers or even just the name of the developer who signed the app bundle. You'd have to check each file properly to see if anything refers to something related to "PD Runner" and then remove both the LaunchAgent/LaunchDaemon and the app.

You might also want to check the /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools directory.

Also, since macOS 13, apps can have LaunchAgents/LaunchDaemons bundled within the .app bundle.

Since your screenshot shows that it affects "all users" I presume that it is a LaunchDaemon or PrivilegedHelperTool, which run on the system level. You could gather more information with these commands:
launchctl print-disabled system (this lists the identifiers of system-level services)

You can get more information, specifically the path, with this:
launchctl print system/identifier_of_service (use the identifier given by the previous command)

 

[svenmany]

I've used sfltool dumpbtm to get details about login items.

 

[Ben J.]

... I have this:
View attachment 2365352
I would search for it using EasyFind, but of course I have no idea what it is.
I can't copy the characters (I would try to paste them into an online translater).

It translates to "Hao Yunli", in any language, so I guess it's a name.

Btw; if you open an image like this in Preview, hover over the text with the selector tool, it turns into a text cursor and lets you select and copy the text. So, I did that and pasted it in Google translate. Pretty cool. I just learned about this recently.

 

[Fishrrman]

I used AppCleaner to hunt down and remove the remnants of PD Runner and then rebooted.
The offending item above now seems to be gone.

Thanks to all who replied.