Why your menu bar app still launches after you removed it from Login Items
macOS starts background software through three separate mechanisms, and the Login Items panel only shows one of them. An app removed from Login Items can still launch from a LaunchAgent it installed independently, which is why disabling things there sometimes changes nothing. Auditing what actually runs at startup means checking all three places, not just the one Apple puts in System Settings.
Key takeaways
- macOS runs background automation through Login Items, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons, and many apps register more than one.
- The Login Items and Extensions panel contains two separate lists, Open at Login and Allow in the Background, which people frequently read as one.
- Per-user background agents installed by third-party software live in the LaunchAgents folder inside your user Library directory.
- Removing a startup entry does not uninstall the app; it only stops the automatic launch.
- Turning the setting off inside the app itself is cleaner than removing entries externally, because the app will often re-register them otherwise.
The three mechanisms
Most guides cover one and stop, which is why they don’t work for the cases people actually search about. The distinction is documented clearly enough to state plainly:
Login Items are applications or scripts that launch automatically when a user logs in, managed through System Settings, General, Login Items and Extensions on macOS 13 and later, and they always run in the user’s GUI session and appear in the Dock or menu bar like any other app.
LaunchAgents are different. A LaunchAgent is a background process defined by a plist file in a Library folder, running silently without a window and managed by launchd, macOS’s service manager, and many apps register both. That last clause is the whole problem.
LaunchDaemons run at the system level rather than per user, typically for services that need to operate regardless of who is logged in. For menu bar utilities these are less common, but they exist.
Each serves a purpose. As one description of the split puts it, a LaunchDaemon can provide persistent background service for an app, a LaunchAgent can provide auxiliary UI capabilities like menu bar extras, and a LoginItem can launch applications when the user logs in. An app doing all three isn’t misbehaving; it’s using the platform as designed.
The two lists people read as one
Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions and you’ll find two sections that do different things.
Open at Login covers apps that autostart with macOS, potentially opening a window at the same time. Allow in the Background covers helper apps that run services in the background at login.
Turning something off in the first list doesn’t touch the second. This alone accounts for a large share of “I disabled it and it still runs” cases, and it’s a thirty-second check.
Worth knowing that Apple made this more visible starting in Ventura: when an installer or app installs components that launch at login or run in the background, macOS notifies the user in Notification Center. Those notifications are worth reading rather than dismissing, since they’re the only moment you’re told something registered itself.
The audit
- Check both lists in System Settings. General → Login Items & Extensions. Review Open at Login and Allow in the Background separately. Apple documents the panel in its Login Items and Extensions settings guide.
- Check the app’s own setting. Most menu bar apps have a launch-at-login toggle in their preferences. Turning it off there is cleaner, because an app that manages its own entry will often re-create it if you remove it externally.
- List your user LaunchAgents. In Terminal:
ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents. This shows per-user background agents installed by third-party software. - Identify before acting. Filenames are reverse-DNS identifiers like
com.example.helper.plist. Search anything you don’t recognise. Confirm which app owns it rather than guessing. - Disable, don’t delete. Prefer the System Settings toggle. If you must act at the file level, move the file to a backup folder instead of deleting it, so it’s reversible.
- Verify. Log out and back in. Check the menu bar and Activity Monitor to confirm the change held and nothing you depend on broke.
Never touch anything beginning with com.apple. Those belong to the operating system, and removing them causes problems ranging from broken features to a system that misbehaves in ways that are difficult to diagnose later.
Which mechanism is which
| Mechanism | Where it lives | Visible in System Settings? | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Login Item | System Settings, General | Yes, Open at Login | Apps that open a window or menu bar icon |
| Background item (SMAppService) | System Settings, General | Yes, Allow in the Background | Helper processes bundled with an app |
| User LaunchAgent | ~/Library/LaunchAgents | Sometimes, on macOS 13+ | Per-user background services, menu bar extras |
| System LaunchAgent | /Library/LaunchAgents | Sometimes | Agents installed for all users |
| LaunchDaemon | /Library/LaunchDaemons | Sometimes | System-level services, run regardless of login |
On macOS 13 and later, apps shipping a helper bundle via SMAppService appear in the same Login Items pane alongside LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons, which is an improvement over earlier releases where these were effectively invisible. Coverage isn’t complete, though, which is why the Terminal check remains worth running.
Should a menu bar app launch at login?
Usually yes, and it’s worth being clear about why, since this article otherwise reads as an argument against startup items.
An app whose value is being permanently visible has to be running to deliver that value. Manually launching a clipboard manager or a ticker every session defeats its purpose entirely, and you’d stop using it within a week.
The apps worth questioning are the ones you use occasionally that installed themselves at startup anyway: updaters, sync clients for services you rarely touch, helpers for apps you open monthly. These run continuously to save you a few seconds a month.
Apple’s guidelines are relevant here as a standard to hold apps to: Mac apps may not auto-launch or execute code at startup or login without user consent, which means an app that turned this on without asking has done something it shouldn’t have.
What this costs you
Two costs, and one is overstated while the other is real.
The overstated one is boot time. Modern Macs start quickly, and a handful of small utilities won’t produce a difference you notice.
The real one is cumulative background activity: every startup item holds memory and wakes periodically, for as long as the machine is on. Which matters more than a slow boot, because it persists all day. Measurement rather than assumption is the right approach, and the protocol is in our menu bar app RAM and CPU benchmark.
The related cost is menu bar space. Every auto-launching app with an icon competes for the strip beside the notch, and something gets dropped when it fills, as covered in our guide to why menu bar icons disappear behind the notch.
How CoinNotch handles this
CoinNotch offers launch at login as a setting you turn on, not a default applied silently. For a ticker the setting makes sense, since a price display that isn’t running shows nothing.
The honest note: if you turn launch at login off, the ticker only shows a price while you’ve manually opened the app, which for most people means it stops being useful. That’s inherent to the category rather than a limitation of this app, and it’s the reason to enable the setting deliberately rather than to avoid it.
Frequently asked questions
Why does an app still launch after I removed it from Login Items?
macOS starts software three ways: Login Items, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons. Removing a Login Item does not affect a LaunchAgent the app installed separately, so the app keeps launching from the mechanism you did not disable.
What is the difference between a Login Item and a LaunchAgent?
A Login Item is an app macOS opens when you log in, appearing in the Dock or menu bar. A LaunchAgent is a background process defined by a plist file and managed by launchd, running silently without a window.
Where are startup items stored on a Mac?
User-approved apps appear in System Settings under General, then Login Items and Extensions. Per-user background agents installed by third-party software live in the LaunchAgents folder inside your user Library directory.
Does removing a startup item uninstall the app?
No. Removing an app from Login Items or disabling its LaunchAgent only stops it launching automatically. The app stays installed and you can open it manually whenever you want.
Is it safe to delete files from the LaunchAgents folder?
Only for third-party software you recognise, and moving files to a backup folder is safer than deleting them. Never remove items whose labels begin with com.apple, since those belong to the operating system.
Should menu bar apps launch at login?
For apps whose value is being permanently visible, yes, since manually launching a ticker or clipboard manager every session defeats the purpose. For anything you use occasionally, launching it on demand is the better default.
The audit worth running twice a year
Startup items accumulate silently. Every installer adds one, few remove theirs cleanly on uninstall, and nothing prompts you to review the list.
Twice a year, open both lists in System Settings, run the LaunchAgents check, and ask of each entry whether you’d install it today. Anything failing that test can be disabled, reversibly, and you’ll know within a day if you were wrong. The same question applies to what occupies your menu bar, covered in our guide to the best menu bar apps for Mac.
This article is for information only. It is not financial, investment, or tax advice. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose everything you put in. CoinNotch displays public market data and does not trade, hold funds, or connect to any account.