Automatically Open Applications at Login

Mac Treat # 8 (Oringially Apperaed in Kibbles & Bytes)

This is a tip for people who frequently power off their Macs, but always launch the same applications when turning their Mac back on. People like me – I mainly use a MacBook Pro, which I almost always shut off when I’m traveling. There are a couple of applications I always launch at login – Mail, NewsFire, and at work, our accounting software called K9.

OS 10.4 gives you a couple methods for automatically launching applications when you log into your Macs user account,saving several seconds of clicking and waiting.

Method one: Launch System Preferences (Click on the blue Apple at the upper left hand of your monitor, then select System Preferences), and then click on the “Accounts” icon. Select the tab reading “Login Items.” Next, click the “+” icon in the lower corner of the window. Now you’ll see the contents of your Applications folder. Simply select the application you want to load on start, and click “Add.”

Method two (even easier): Launch the application you want to launch at login. Right-click (or control-click) on it’s icon in your Mac’s dock, then select “Open at Login.”

To stop an application from launching at login, simply launch the application, right-click (or control-click) on it’s icon in the dock, and then deselect “Open at Login.”