How-To: Make programs automatically start up in Mac OS X

by Phillip Torrone, posted Jul 20th 2004 at 11:33AM

This week's how-to is how to make an application automatically start up in Mac OS X when a specific user logs in. Also, the application we're going to use as an example will give you alerts when we post a new story or feature here.

You'll need Mac OS X 10.3.4 and an application you wish to have start up. For our example, we're going to use "Engadgeter". Engadgeter is a status bar application which checks www.engadget.com every so often to see if there is a new post or feature, if there is, the icon will flash and you can select the story right from your status bar. There are other applications like one that alerts you of earthquakes as well.
posts

Download Engadgeter here, and place it somewhere on your hard drive, it doesn't really matter where, but we placed ours in the Applications folder.

Next up, open your System preferences.
prefs

Click users, and then click "Start up items".
start me up

Open the Applications folder on your hard drive (or wherever you placed the Engadgeter application) and drag the application in to the main panel.

Any application you drag here will automatically start up once you log in, you can also choose the order the applications start as well.

If you wanted to, you could also click the option "Hide" if you didn't want to see the application. We suspect this would be good for some security apps or things that you won't actually use, but wanted to start as service or something.

If you always start up Mail, IRC, Safari, iChatAV, this could save you a few seconds or so a day. Hey, at the end of your live, that adds up to a few weeks that could spend, um, using your computer more.

Want to see a How-to here? Post a comment!

Tags: features

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Ran Barton @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM

It seems to me that anyone who a) reads this site and b) uses a Mac must _surely_ know how to configure a startup item, but maybe I am too quick to judge.

Back in the day, all you had to do was move your app into the system folder and rename it Finder. It's good to see Apple's improved some things over time.

If you really want to scan Engadget's RSS feed, I suggest NetNewsWire, so that you can look at hundreds of others, while you are at it.

Neutral

Jake @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM

I say I like little tips like this. I love Engadget and am glad that you are mac savy. Yes, it was an easy tip, but what, (minus the advanced unix stuff) is really hard on a Mac anyway?

Ran, renaming files "Finder"? No. You put aliases in the startup items folder.

Neutral

Vanilla @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM

Actually, putting aliases in a Startup Items folder only came along with System 7. When Ran talks about renaming a program "Finder", he is referring to earlier times.

Neutral

Dy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM

The information was quite helpful. However, let's say you created a script using AppleScript that you want executed every time a user logs on......and you have 20 users using the same computer. Is there a way to save the script in a certain folder that will execute for each user upon login instead of going through a list of 20 users and adding the script to each user Startup in Preferences?

Neutral

stephen @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM

I believe that system 6 (any any earlier systems hacked together to run with multifinder) with multifinder had a mechanism for allowing you to select applications in the finder then select them to be automaticaly opened upon startup. I never thought this was very elegant and remeber being impressed by the startup items folder when it appeared.

Also i suspect that some type and creator code tweaking might be required if you wanted to create a properly blessed (non multifinder) system folder containing a program you wished to run as the finder... but it has been a long time since I have messed around wih this stuff :-)

Neutral