Disable OS X feature to reopen windows at login time

Question

In Mac OS X Lion, when I do Apple > Shut Down, there is a checkbox that says "Reopen windows when logging back in".

Even though I constantly UNCHECK the box, it seems OS X doesn't care - and still opens some Finder windows and sometimes Chrome...

How can I turn this feature off?

In System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items, is Chrome set to open at login? In Snow Leopard, I know Finder windows were restored at launch, but Chrome windows are a mystery. — Nathan Walker, Aug 07 '11 at 15:03
You were right about Chrome, it was in the login items, I don't know how it got there... — nute, Aug 10 '11 at 07:16
I added that as an answer so you can mark your question as successfully answered. — Nathan Walker, Aug 10 '11 at 14:12
Perhaps is our old friend GoogleSoftwareUpdate ? I bet Chromium does not do that .... :\ — chiggsy, Aug 12 '11 at 03:15
Unchecking "Reopen windows when logging back in" really just disables reopening applications. When applications are reopened either manually or as login items, their state is still restored. (Even if Resume was disabled in the General preferences and application state wouldn't normally be restored.) — Lri, May 10 '12 at 18:25
Two related questions: Unchecking "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps" doesn't work, Uncheck "Reopen windows when logging back in" by default — Lri, May 10 '12 at 18:27
I love how it's now 2023 that this STILL an issue. It's one of the most infuriating issues for me about using a Mac. — user24601, May 08 '23 at 23:53

Mathias Bynens · Answer 1 · 2012-05-15T07:08:48.817

10

For the record, we’re talking about this:

Screenshot

The problem is that OS X doesn’t remember if you uncheck the checkbox on the last shutdown — it will always keep the checkbox checked by default on subsequent shutdowns.

I found two different solutions for this problem, that seem to do the trick, although they aren’t ideal.

Open Terminal.app and enter the following commands:

defaults write com.apple.loginwindow TALLogoutSavesState -bool false
defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowLaunchesRelaunchApps -bool false

This effectively disables the “reopen windows when logging back in” option, although the checkbox will still appear to be checked. You can just ignore it.

I’m afraid there’s no better solution, at least not at the moment.

Update: OS X 10.7.4 fixed this — it now remembers your selection:

edited May 15 '12 at 07:08

answered Mar 21 '12 at 11:35

Mathias Bynens

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It seems Mountain Lion fixed the issue – nute Mar 22 '12 at 10:57
@nute So does Mountain Lion remember your selection, or does it respect and remember the TALLogoutSavesState setting? It’s a neat improvement either way! – Mathias Bynens Mar 22 '12 at 11:01
2

It remembers my checkbox selection. – nute Mar 25 '12 at 11:13
This hack resulted in some graphical glitches on my MBP 8-2 every time I logged in! This other solution on the other hand was fine. – gentmatt May 15 '12 at 11:00

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 08:04

6

This bug has been fixed with the Lion update 10.7.4:

The OS X Lion v10.7.4 Update includes fixes that:

Resolve an issue in which the "Reopen windows when logging back in" setting is always enabled.

enter image description here

(click here for more information)

edited Jun 15 '20 at 08:04

Community

1

answered Dec 24 '11 at 09:11

gentmatt

49,722

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 09 '11 at 16:58

Do you ever want applications to restore to their closed state, or just at startup? If you want something resembling pre-Lion behavior (i.e. not picking up where you left off), try this.

Back up your system before trying this, in case it messes anything up, but I'd recommend this procedure: In the Finder, press Command-shift-G for "Go to the folder:" then type "~/Library/Saved Application State/" (without the quotes). Delete all the folders in Saved Application State, then press Command-I to Get File Info. In the Get File Info window, check the "locked" box. This should keep applications from restoring their state.

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 12 '23 at 08:31

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The only thing that actually ever worked for me (MacOS 13.4 or similar) is to find the file:

~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.loginwindow.<UUID>.plist

Your file will have a different UUID for every user.

Empty this file: echo "" > ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.loginwindow.<UUID>.plist

And then make it unwritable: sudo chown root ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.loginwindow.<UUID>.plist

This ensures a predictable login time and makes a reboot do what it was designed to do: clear the current state of the computer. I know this thread is old but I am sure that someone else will benefit from this knowledge. I wish I could have found out the easy way.

answered Jun 12 '23 at 08:31

Karatekid430

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This is what solved it for me, and just to be certain it hopefully sticks, I used sudo chmod 000 and sudo chown nobody:nogroup on this. It's been bugging me for ages that nothing else stuck. – Josh Jun 28 '23 at 05:48
I tried this and it helped but somehow Tuple still launched at startup, despite not being in this file, in the login items in my user account settings, and not having its own launch at startup setting checked. Is it just me or has this always been one of the most hard to control things in macOS? – Andy Oct 20 '23 at 20:31
Double check using something like launchcontrol (free version should work), or check launchctl list, that sounds like it starts at login instead of relaunching. – Josh Oct 27 '23 at 15:27

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 10 '11 at 14:12

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Be sure that Google Chrome isn't included in System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items.

Also, Finder windows restore by default regardless, as they did in Snow Leopard.

answered Aug 10 '11 at 14:12

Nathan Walker

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Disable OS X feature to reopen windows at login time

5 Answers5

The OS X Lion v10.7.4 Update includes fixes that:

Linked

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