How to Make an App Open at Login From the Mac Dock

The apps you launch first thing every morning — mail, calendar, notes — can launch themselves. You don't need to find the right pane in System Settings: any app already in your Dock can be set to open at login with two clicks.

Set it from the Dock

1. Right-click (or Control-click) the app's icon in the Dock. The app can be running or just pinned.
2. Hover over Options.
3. Click Open at Login. A checkmark appears next to it.

Done — the next time you log in or restart, the app launches by itself. To undo it, open the same menu and click Open at Login again; the checkmark disappears and the app stays quiet at startup.

Where this setting really lives

The Dock checkbox is a shortcut into the system's login items list. You can see and manage the full list at System Settings → General → Login Items (on macOS 15 Sequoia the pane is named Login Items & Extensions). Anything you enable from the Dock appears under Open at Login there, alongside items added by installers.

1. Open System Settings → General → Login Items.
2. To add an app the Settings way, click +, pick it from Applications, and click Open.
3. To remove one, select it and click −. This is equivalent to unchecking Open at Login in the Dock.

The same pane shows Allow in the Background — helpers and updaters that run without a Dock icon. Those aren't controlled by the Dock trick; if your login feels crowded by invisible processes, that list is where to look (we cover it in background items on Mac).

Keep startup fast and tidy

• Be picky. Every login item adds to the time between password and usable desktop. Three or four essentials is a sweet spot; fifteen is a slow morning.
• Windows in your face? Older macOS versions had a "Hide" checkbox per login item; macOS 13 and later dropped it. If a login app opens a window you don't want to see, press Cmd+H to hide it once it launches, or check whether the app has its own "start minimized" preference — many menu bar apps do.
• Don't confuse this with window restore. Apps also reopen if they were running when you restarted and "Reopen windows when logging back in" was ticked in the restart dialog. If mystery apps appear at login that aren't in your login items, that's usually the cause — see stopping apps from reopening.

Audit the rest of your startup

Login items you chose are only half the story — installers quietly add launch agents and background helpers too. For a full cleanup, work through managing startup items on Mac.