How to disable Steam opening on startup for Mac

I’m going to show you how to prevent Steam from opening at startup on your Mac. While Steam is great for providing access to a ton of different games, gaming may not be something you do every day. That, or maybe you just don’t want the application popup to appear every time you restart your computer. In any case, this guide will show you what to do.

Steam is great for accessing a wide variety of games while also offering a variety of features outside of just gaming. However, there may be times when you get tired of the application opening at startup. Don’t worry, there is an easy solution to this problem. If opening Steam every time you start your device is giving you grief, read on to find out how to stop it.

What is Steam?

For those who are not in the know, Steam is a digital platform owned by Valve Corporation that helps distribute games. In terms of features, the Steam client includes access to friend lists, in-game voice chat, posting reviews, purchasing DLC, and more. The application itself can be great for those who like to play with friends, play alone, or even design their own content for games. Thanks to Steamworks, users can create their own game content on the platform, which also allows developers to monetize their games and content.

While Steam can be great for those who enjoy gaming, the program that opens every time you start your device can become a nuisance. Maybe you just prefer to have as few applications open as possible at startup, or maybe you find yourself doing things other than gaming. Perhaps opening Steam is also locking up your machine. Whatever your reason, there are actually a variety of ways to prevent Steam from opening on startup.

Let’s take a look at the different ways a user can prevent Steam from opening on startup on their Mac.

How to disable Steam opening on startup from the app

Your first option is to disable this option directly from Steam. If you go this route, disable the application from opening directly from the program itself. This can be beneficial in that it ensures that Steam no longer opens when you restart or start up your Mac.

  1. Open Steam
  2. Navigate to Steam in the menu bar and select Settings.
  3. A menu will open, choose Interface from the left sidebar.
  4. If present, check the box next to “Run stream when my computer starts” and uncheck it.
  5. Steam no longer opens on startup.

Disable Steam on startup in Mac preferences

Of course, you also have the option to disable Steam opening on startup directly from your Mac settings. This can often be a better option than doing it directly from yours settings also allows you to add other applications that you don’t want to open at startup. Keeping all apps in one place can be especially useful if you want more than one app to stop opening at startup.

It should be noted that these instructions apply to macOS Ventura. If you’re using an older version of macOS, it’s highly recommended that you simply remove the app from your Dock, either via Steam or from the instructions below it. However, there may still be some options to go this route, which I will explain.

Needed time: 1 minute.

How to Disable Steam Opening on Startup in Mac Preferences

  1. Select the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen and choose System Preferences.
  2. Navigate to General.
  3. Choose Login Items in the middle of the menu.


    Note: If you are not running macOS Ventura, Login Items will not be among them General. If you are using an older version of macOS, your Login Items Settings may be located under Users and Groups. You need to know your device’s password to access the Login Items Page. If these settings appear under Users and GroupsFind Login Items should be one of the first things you see after clicking on this section. If successful, you can follow the rest of the instructions.

  4. Steam should appear in this menu. Highlight Steam and then click the hyphen “-” icon at the bottom of the table.

  5. Steam is now removed from the list of applications that run at startup.

If Steam is in your Dock: Alternative method

Additionally, there is another option for Mac users. If you have the application embedded in the Dock at the bottom of your screen, you can also navigate here to disable the app. This is probably the quickest route, although adding the application to your dock just to implement this method is unnecessary.

  1. Right-click/ctrl-click the Steam icon in the Dock.
  2. Go to Options in the menu.
  3. If you see a check mark next to Open at login, click the check mark to turn off the option.

Conclusion

Steam can be a great place to meet up with friends and enjoy the world of gaming. However, it can become annoying for some users to see the application every time they start their device. Following this guide should be of great help to remove the app from your screen during startup.

Whether you want to help your computer start up faster or you just need a break from gaming, follow these steps to prevent the app from launching on startup. Of course, if you use the options for your Mac, you can also disable other applications when you start your Mac. Be sure to explore these options to get the most out of your machine.

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