How to Automatically Launch Programs When Logging Into Your Computer With Mac OS X

Getting yourself situated in the morning after a good 16 or so hours away from the desk involves a bit of preparation. If you shut down your computer for the night you have to start it back up, then launch all the programs you'll need for your workday. Depending on your computer, that can take as long as 10 to 15 minutes. One way to save some time is to set up your computer to start up at a specific time (as covered in another of my articles--see link in Resources) and tell your computer to launch programs automatically at startup. Mac OS X's "System Preferences" allows you to add "Login Items" for each user under the "Accounts" preference pane. The following are ways to do it.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Apple Macintosh Computer running Mac OS X Leopard

1. Launch "System Preferences." It's in the Applications folder in Mac OS X Leopard's (and previous versions) Finder.
2. Select "Accounts" in the "System" area of "System Preferences."
3. Click the lock in the lower left-hand corner to make changes to an account other than the one you're logged in as. You can ignore this and the next step if you're only adding login items to the account you're using currently.
4. Type in your login name and password in the prompt that pops up.
5. Select the account you want to change from the left side of the "Accounts" window.
6. Click on the "Login Items" button on the top of the "Accounts" preferences pane.
7. Hit the plus sign below the list of applications (it may be blank at this time).
8. Navigate to the "Applications" folder and select the application you want the computer to launch automatically when it starts up.
9. Click the "Add" button on the bottom right when you find the application to add to the "Login Items" list.
10. Repeat the last two steps for each application you want to start up when you log into your Mac.
11. Click the check box next to the application name if you want to hide the program when you first log in. This is good for programs that run in the background.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also add applications quickly by going to the dock, right or control-clicking the application you want to add and select "Open at Login."