Every time your Mac is turned on a number of applications, add-ons and invisible background processes start running automatically. In most cases these actions are exactly what you want to begin, but there are times when not all of the items that startup when the system does were added by you or, at least, you don't remember adding them or no longer need them.
Startup items are those items and logins, services, and those applications that launch every time you start your Mac. These are the applications that try to find their way to becoming one of the startup items without you noticing it. Thus, it never asks your permission to do so. There are two reasons to change the startup apps on your Mac. First, to declutter: it’s annoying to repeatedly close unwanted windows as soon as your Mac boots up. Second, you can quickly set programs to be ready and waiting when you start. We’ll run through how to change the startup apps on your Mac and start your day the right way. You will see a list of applications that start automatically with the operating system; To add new program to Auto Startup you need to click on the “Plus” at the bottom of the window, and open the standard Finder. Here you can choose which exactly applications should start automatically when you turn on your computer. For instance, if you use a Mac for work, you might like Slack to open right up for quick communications. However, if you are experiencing apps opening that you do not want, there are a couple of ways you can change this. This short tutorial shows you how to stop Mac apps from opening automatically on startup or login.
The number of startup items – if left unmonitored – can increase over time, which proportionately affects the Mac's startup time and influences its overall performance. Obviously you only want to start the programs and processes you need and are useful for the computer, which is why we’ve given a few important tips on how to identify and manage startup and login items.
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Understanding Login Items
Each user account has its own different login items because of the apps that each specific account has installed and activated. Apple allows for two ways to add a login item, either by using the Service Management framework or by using a shared file list.
The items installed using the Service Management framework don't appear in System Preferences and can be removed only by the apps that installed them. The user only has direct control over the item(s) installed through a shared file, which allows them to disable it. To view these files, open System Preferences, click Users & Groups > Select user and then select the “Login Items” tab. Here you can add or remove apps, documents, folders, or server connections.
To add a connection, click on the add button (+).
To remove a login item, select the name of the item, and click on the remove button (−).
If you don't want an item's windows to be visible after startup, select the “Hide” checkbox next to the item.
Understanding Startup Items
Apple discourages developers from adding startup items to their apps, saying it is deprecated technology, and instead recommends adding launch daemons and agents. macOS versions 10.3 and earlier rely on this technology, which utilizes two folders: “Library/StartupItems” and “/System/Library/StartupItems”.
The startup item typically contains a shell script or other executable file, along with configuration information that helps the system determine the execution order for all startup items.
To check the status of the startup items folder, launch Finder, press the Command + Shift + G keys, and enter the following path: “/System/Library/StartupItems”. Normally, it should be empty but if, for some reason, you see any items there, simply select all and drag them into the trash.
Launch Daemons and Agents
With macOS 10.4 Tiger, Apple introduced the launch daemons and agents mechanism for launching items automatically, a process that is controlled by “launchd”. Apps contain a configuration property list file (.plist) for their daemon, which launchd then reads and makes decisions based on the information it receives from there, such as whether it should run at scheduled intervals, constantly, or in response to an event.
While macOS stores a long list of .plist files in two places (“/System/Library/LaunchDaemons” and “/System/Library/LaunchAgents”), you don't want to mess with either of those, since they are essential to keeping your Mac running smoothly. You can control the items located in the “/Users/your-username/Library/LaunchAgents”, however.
How to Manage Login and Startup Items Along With Launch Agents
Manually
Advanced users may prefer using Terminal to unload or enable launch daemon agents, but fortunately there is an easy way to control this function of the Mac and improve your machine’s boot time and overall performance. In some cases login items can be broken, which will naturally affect the Mac's performance, so it's good to check on their status from time to time.
To remove a service from launchd, type the following command in the Terminal window:
launchctl remove name
Using a Mac Optimization App
Along with cleaning up your system, Mac optimization apps such as CleanMyMac also provide utilities that help the average user easily manage login items and launch agents, as well as startup items, in four easy steps.
Launch CleanMyMac and click on the Extensions tab.
Click on Login items or Launch Agents.
Select the apps you want to disable and remove.
Hit the “Remove” button and the process is finished.
After this, the next time you turn your Mac on, you'll notice an improvement in its boot time, especially if the list of login items was quite long.
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“No matter what I do, my Mac is still slow”, an average tech-consultant hears this phrase multiple times a day. Give a person even the most powerful computer, and pretty soon it will be cluttered with apps, extensions, and things that are too much for it to handle. To reverse it, one has to go back and сlean up the mess, removing memory agents one by one. Prepare for a fight — every byte of memory is at stake. So let’s put your Mac on a diet and get it more free RAM to breathe freely.
First, remove desktop clutter. Get a combination of Setapp apps that clear away unneeded desktop files.
Download Declutter Free
“Your system has run out of application memory”
How do you know your Mac is low on memory? Floating “rainbow wheels” aside, you may notice your Mac now takes ages to load. You’ll also see many browser applications crashing. You’ll be also thrown warning messages as “Your system has run out of application memory”. To help it, you should first visit the Activity monitor to see memory usage on Mac.
How to check RAM usage on Mac
Go to Applications and type in Activity Monitor in the search bar. This invokes a good old Activity Monitor that should tell how much free memory you’ve got left.
A shortcut to open Activity Monitor:
Press F4 and start typing Activity Monitor in the search bar.
I’ve attached a screenshot from my Mac and as you can see my memory usage almost reached full capacity. Here’s what it all means:
App memory: taken by apps and processes Wired memory: reserved by apps, can’t be freed up Compressed: inactive, can be used by other apps Swap used: memory used by macOS Cached files: memory you can really use
Notice the colored graph under Memory Pressure. If your graph is all but red and yellow, your Mac is really gasping for fresh memory. It seems counter-intuitive, but “available memory” your Activity Monitor is not that important after all. Jabra elite mac app. In fact, it’s a system intended behavior to use all memory resources when available. On the contrary, the Memory Pressure graph is much more telling, so grow a habit to check this graph in the Activity Monitor every now and then.
How to check CPU usage on Mac
Open the CPU tab in Activity Monitor to keep in check CPU-heavy processes. Normally an app would be using 0-4% of CPU. If it takes abnormally more than that, go inside that particular item in the list and press the Quit button.
How to free up memory on Mac
Tip # 1. Remove Login Items to lower Mac memory usage
Login items are programs that load automatically upon Mac startup. Some of them covertly add themselves to the list and this is no good. If you’re looking to free up RAM, they are the first candidates for deletion. Don’t worry, you’re not deleting the app itself, you just stop it from auto-launching every time.
So, to remove Login Items and at the same time reduce your memory usage of your Mac, you need to:
Open System Preferences and select Users & Groups.
Click your nickname on the left.
Select the Login Items tab.
Check programs you don’t want to load as your Mac starts.
Press the “–” sign below.
Now, you won’t see these apps pop up the moment you turn on your Mac. Although this method doesn’t require some superpowers of yours, some special Mac optimization and memory cleaner tools may do the job faster and ensure the smooth performance of your Mac. CleanMyMac X is an excellent example of such software. Here’s how to disable Login Items with CleanMyMac X:
Download it for free and go to the Optimization tab.
Check Login Items to see the list of apps that get opened when you start your Mac.
Click Remove.
How to install windows app on mac. As you’ve already come to the Optimization module of CleanMyMac, you can also fix hung apps and heavy memory consumers there. In this way, you’ll free up the solid amount of RAM on Mac — 100% free of charge.
Tip # 2. Free up disk space if Mac is low on memory
The available space on your Mac’s drive translates into virtual memory. This comes to save you when you’ve run out of physical RAM. So now your computer relies on your hard drive space to keep your apps going.
The classic geek rule of thumb holds it that you should keep at least 20% of disk space on your startup drive. Not only this potentially reduces your future spending on iCloud storage but it also keeps your Mac speedier.
What to delete to free up space:
Large unused files, like movies
Old downloads
Rarely used applications
System junk
But here’s a simpler solution to save your time — clean up your drive with CleanMyMac X— the app I’ve mentioned above. Many users recommend it as an excellent way to free up more space because it searches for large & old files, useless system files, Photo junk, mail attachments and shows everything you can safely delete. Interestingly, it finds about 74 GB of junk on an average computer.
Extra trick: How to free up RAM on Mac with CleanMyMac X
If you have downloaded CleanMyMac, you may also take advantage of its amazing feature — the ability to free up RAM in a few seconds. Try this next time you see “Your system has run out of application memory” message.
Go to the Maintenance tab on the left.
Click Free Up RAM.
Click Run.
As simple as that!
And you can do it even if you download a free version of the app.
Tip # 3. Clean up your Desktop
This tip always comes at the bottom of instructions and unfairly so as it is quite effective. Without even looking at your Desktop I would assume it’s cluttered with mountains of icons. Thing is, your macOS was designed in a way that it treats every Desktop icon as a little active window. The more icons, the heavier memory usage on Mac. So in order to release available memory resources, it’s recommended to keep your Desktop clean.
You don’t have to do it all by yourself. With apps like Declutter and Spotless, every desktop cleaning session will be scheduled in advance and executed automatically. Your only job is to define the rules on how your files should be organized.
Tip #4. Clear cache files
Another way to free up RAM on Mac is to clear it of cache files. Of course, it won’t save you gigabytes of space, but deleting cache regularly, you can help your Mac run faster and avoid system issues.
So, to remove cache files on your Mac, you need to:
Open Finder.
From the Go menu, select Go to Folder.
Type ~/Library/Caches in the field and press Go.
In the window that appears, you will see all your cache files.
Press Command+A to select all files or delete files one by one.
Enter your user name and password to confirm.
If you find some files still in the folder after you emptied it, maybe you have some windows open on your Mac. Just like that, you can save up some space on your Mac. Don’t forget to empty the bin afterward.
Tip # 5. Tune up Chrome’s Task Manager
Although Google Chrome is not the one to blame for massive memory usage, it can indeed affect your Mac's performance. If you use Chrome as your primary browser, you probably have many windows opened there. Chrome runs a lot of processes to ensure a fast browsing experience for you. So, it uses your RAM for storing your tabs, plugins, and extensions. Look at how many entries Google Chrome has in Activity Monitor:
The question then arises, 'Why does Chrome use so much RAM?' The thing is that each process is responsible for a separate plugin or extension of your browser. For example, when a tab unexpectedly falls, you need to refresh it to continue your work there. If one process were responsible for all tabs and extensions, you would need to restart the whole browser instead. Can you imagine how many times would you do that? That’s the proper answer to why Chrome uses so much RAM.
I’ve been using Chrome for some years only to discover (recently) that Chrome had a task manager of its own. You can use it to force quit memory-heavy processes in the browser. It’s a handy tool because it lets you see how a page weighs on CPU usage on a Mac.
Go to Chrome settings (dotted icon in the top right corner)
Click More tools -> Task Manager
How To Check Which Apps Open On Startup Mac Pro
To free up even more RAM, close the GPU process. The GPU Process, though helpful in theory to accelerate pages, eats up a considerable amount of memory. Click to end it to free up RAM on your Mac.
Tip # 6. Manage RAM usage with CleanMyMac X menu
CleanMyMac X has another useful and convenient feature for managing your Mac’s performance and memory usage. As you install CleanMyMac X and start it for the first time, it’s icon will appear in your menu bar. Click the icon to open the CleanMyMac X menu. Here you can find updates on the current condition of your Mac and perform quick tweaks to increase your Mac's speed. Whenever you feel like your Mac underperforms, open the CleanMyMac X menu to check how much RAM is available and free it up as well.
Tip # 7. Close Finder windows
Okay, suppose you’re still asking yourself, how do I clear RAM on my MacBook Pro/MacBook Air. The next trick is as magical (you’ll see for yourself) as it is time-saving. It’s no secret that each window in the Finder eats up RAM. But how many open windows are there? Some of them are collapsed or stacked in some blind spot on your screen. This Finder command merges all your windows into one. See how to do it:
Click on Finder > Window > Merge All Windows
Now you can manage Finder windows more effectively and free up memory on MacBook.
What else you can do to minimize memory usage on Mac
I’ve saved the easiest tips for the end, as long as these ones are self-explanatory.
Replace AdBlock (very memory-demanding) with a lighter extension
Keep fewer opened tabs in the browser
Restart your Mac more often to free up RAM
Close all hung-up print queues
That was my take on how to make your Mac a bit speedier to use. If you’re looking for more guidance, check simple ways to speed up your Mac.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to check application memory on Mac?
To check RAM usage on your Mac, go to Activity Monitor (Applications > Utilities). In the Memory tab, you will see all the active processes that are using your Mac’s RAM. At the end of the window, there is a Memory Used graph, which indicates how much application memory is used.
How to find out whether your Mac needs more RAM?
How To Check Which Apps Open On Startup Mac Os
Your Mac may be using almost all its RAM, but you don’t need more if it’s using it efficiently. Open Activity Monitor and go to the Memory tab. The Memory Pressure graph shows the current condition of your RAM: green color means your Mac’s using RAM effectively, while yellow is a sign that some application or process is using too much of application memory. The red memory pressure signals that your Mac needs more RAM.
How to quickly free up RAM on your MacBook?
To free up RAM on your Mac, firstly, you should find out what app uses so much of your memory. The memory-heavy programs are listed in Activity Monitor, Memory tab. If there is an app you aren’t using at the moment, click it and press the “X” sign to quit it. This will, in turn, free some of the application memory
How To Check Which Apps Open On Startup Macbook Pro