MacMost Q&A Forum • View All Forum QuestionsAsk a Question

How Do I Control Software That Loads On Boot-up?

I’m relatively new on a Mac…I let my grandson buy some games he likes from Steam so he could play them when he stays over. Unfortunately, every time I boot-up (I know I don’t need to shut down, but I’m still learning and 30+ yr old PC habits are hard to break), I have to wait for Steam to load so I can quit it. Is there any way to stop it from loading…I know he can start it from Launchpad when he comes over. I haven’t found a way on Steam or the Mac to control what boots at start-up.
—–
MacRon

Comments: 2 Responses to “How Do I Control Software That Loads On Boot-up?”

    8 years ago

    The normal way that apps start up when you boot your Mac is as a "login item." To see your Login Items, run System Preferences. Then click on Users & Groups. Then look for where it has Password/Login Items at the top and click Login Items.
    Anything listed there will launch when that user account logs in. The checkboxes just means it launches "in the background." So what you need to do is to find Steam in that list, select it, and hit the - button to remove it. Then it won't run automatically anymore.
    If it isn't in that list then it means that Steam is using some other mechanism to launch itself. You will most likely have to go into Steam's settings and find a shut-off there.
    But there's a better way to do this. You should have multiple users on your Mac. If your grandson is using your Mac on a regular basis, then he should have his own user account. Then when he installs Steam it would only launch for him when he logs into his account. And he can add apps, preferences, mail settings, bookmarks, create documents, etc -- it would all be in his account and not alter anything on your account. He logs into his account when he wants to use the Mac, and you log into yours. And another else would log into theirs too.
    See: http://macmost.com/user-accounts-and-fast-user-switching.html.

    MacRon
    8 years ago

    Gary; Amazing. I didn't expect an answer that quickly and it worked like a charm. Rebooted and no Steam. Now off to user accounts!

Comments Closed.