How to stop Spotify from opening at Mac startup

Asya Karapetyan
Content marketer, who specializes in Mac how-to guides
July 21, 2023
7 minutes to read

When you launch Spotify for the first time, it shows a notification with a proposal to open the app automatically at Mac startup. If you are one of those users who have accepted the login option, and now have no idea how to stop Spotify from opening on Startup. Then, this article is for you. We will provide a step-by-step guide on how to stop Spotify from running automatically when you turn your Mac on. You can do this in several ways. We will provide all of them.

Stop Spotify from automatically opening at Mac Startup

Contents:

  1. Stop Spotify auto-login using the app’s settings.
  2. Stop Spotify auto-login using System Preferences.
  3. The easiest way to stop Spotify auto-login.

Stop Spotify from opening on Mac’s startup using the app’s settings

Spotify is one of the most popular music services out there, which provides legal access to a huge music catalog and the ability to play tracks online without having to buy them.

Before starting to prepare a step-by-step guide explaining how to stop Spotify from opening automatically on a desktop device, we have made a deep research on the Spotify Help page and found nothing about this question. The only place where we found an answer was the Spotify Community, where one of the members provided the solution. However, there are no screenshots and some users might find it not so clear.

A detailed guide to stop Spotify from opening on Mac startup:

  1. Open the Spotify app. In the top right corner, you can see your account icon. Click the arrow button to open the drop menu. Select Settings.Spotify window with Settings tab highlighted
  2. Scroll all the way down and you will see the option to Show Advanced Settings. Here click on the Show Advanced Settings button. It will open more setting options for Spotify.
    advanced setting button in Spotify
  3. Scroll down and look for the Startup and Window Behavior section. Set “No” next to the “Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer.”
    option to stop Spotify open at Mac login
  4. Relaunch Spotify.

After these steps, Spotify should no longer auto-open on your system startup. However, we recommend that you keep on reading and learn two more ways on how to disable unwanted login items on Mac. Firstly, it might happen that this method does not help. Secondly, below you will find an ultimate solution to easily disable any login item or launch agent and take control of all startup applications on your Mac.


Stop Spotify from opening automatically on startup using System Settings

Apple allows you to take control over all login items through System Preferences. You can learn more about changing Mac login options on the macOS user guide.

Steps to remove Spotify login item on Mac:

  1. Open System Settings.
  2. Click General in the sideabr.
  3. Select Login Items.
  4. Select Spotify and click the minus (-) button to stop it from opening at Mac startup.
system settings showing Spotify login item
A guide for macOS Monterey and erlier versions of macOS:

  1. Go to the Apple Menu → select System Preferences.
  2. Go to the Users & Groups section and switch to the Login Items tab.
  3. You will see the list of items that open automatically when you log in. Select Spotify and click on the “Minus (ー)” button to remove it.
  4. Relaunch Spotify. Now it will not be launched when you restart your machine.

If Spotify still launches automatically at Mac startup even after removing the Spotify login item in the macOS preferences, try to completely remove it using App Cleaner & Uninstaller. So, let’s move to the easiest way on how to stop Spotify from auto-launching.


The easiest way to stop Spotify from opening on Mac startup

The quickest way to change what opens on Mac startup is to use special software called App Cleaner & Uninstaller. This app is designed to completely uninstall apps on Mac, but besides its main purpose, it has a great feature that helps you to manage login items and launch agents on Mac.

Steps to stop Spotify from opening on Mac startup using App Cleaner & Uninstaller:

  1. Open App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
  2. Go to the Startup Programs tab.
  3. Find and select the Spotify login item in the Login Items section.
  4. Switch off the toggle button to disable Spotify login item.
    App Cleaner Uninstaller window showing how to stop Spotify

App Cleaner & Uninstaller is a convenient tool where you can take a look at all your Mac extensions, change their mode or remove them, and you can do it all in just one window. Now it’s not a problem to stop any application on Mac running on Mac startup.



Frequently asked questions about Spotify

How to get Spotify for Mac?
Is Spotify on the Mac App Store?
How do I update Spotify on my Mac?
How do I completely remove Spotify from my Mac?
Does uninstalling Spotify delete downloaded songs?
Spotify keeps crashing on Mac. How to fix it?
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