Catalina insists on re-opening all applications on startup that were used shortly before shutdown

[DanCliffordCTFC]

To all in the thread experiencing this problem, please try the following and let us know the results. If you have a second account on your computeyrlog into that account and see if the same problem occurs. If you do not have a second account go to the Users & Groups Preference pane and create a new account.

If the problem occurs in your original account but not in the second account that would suggest that the issue is somewhere in your user account and not in the OS itself.

How to create a new user account

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I tried creating a new user before and the problem still occurred on the new account.

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How about: System Preferences -> General

"Close windows when quitting an app" Do you have this selected? If not, select it and reboot.

Yes I have this selected.

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Just out of curiosity, a really simple question. Don't be offended by the asking, but how do you quit your applications? The red "X" does not shut down the app, just push it into the background, still running. So when you reboot, because it was running, it starts up again. To actually end an app, use the "Quit" function from the application menu, or cmd-Q.

I always quit any applications I have running. Others have had the same problem from looking at other forums but nothing is ever done to fix it.

 

[MacInWin]

I don't doubt that others may have the issue, but I'm running Catalina and I don't have the problem, so it has to be something in YOUR system that is triggering the behavior. And given that a new user has the same issue, it's something across all users in your system. Do you have any "helper" applications running? (Things which "add" to the way the Mac works, like screensavers, memory cleaners, antivirus programs, etc.) Anything that changes the basic operating system?

 

[DanCliffordCTFC]

I don't doubt that others may have the issue, but I'm running Catalina and I don't have the problem, so it has to be something in YOUR system that is triggering the behavior. And given that a new user has the same issue, it's something across all users in your system. Do you have any "helper" applications running? (Things which "add" to the way the Mac works, like screensavers, memory cleaners, antivirus programs, etc.) Anything that changes the basic operating system?

No I have nothing else installed. It's happened since day 1 of having the MacBook.

 

[IWT]

No I have nothing else installed. It's happened since day 1 of having the MacBook.

I have posted to this thread previously on more than one occasion; but I was unaware that you have had this problem "since Day 1 of having the MacBook".

Are you saying that you got this MacBook with macOS Catalina already installed? And was the MacBook brand new? I mistakenly thought that your problem occurred either after upgrading to macOS Catalina or after a period of normal behaviour with macOS Catalina previously installed.

May I ask you to clarify if you bought the MacBook with macOS Catalina already installed and was the MacBook brand new or second hand?

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

Is it still in warranty? If so, contact Apple and get support. That is not how it should work.

 

[DanCliffordCTFC]

I have posted to this thread previously on more than one occasion; but I was unaware that you have had this problem "since Day 1 of having the MacBook".

Are you saying that you got this MacBook with macOS Catalina already installed? And was the MacBook brand new? I mistakenly thought that your problem occurred either after upgrading to macOS Catalina or after a period of normal behaviour with macOS Catalina previously installed.

May I ask you to clarify if you bought the MacBook with macOS Catalina already installed and was the MacBook brand new or second hand?

Ian

It's a brand new 16-inch MacBook Pro that came with Catalina installed. I have no other issues apart from this. I've seen a lot of people having the same issues across Apple forums.

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Is it still in warranty? If so, contact Apple and get support. That is not how it should work.

I bought it at Christmas. Everything works perfectly fine apart from this issue.

 

[MacInWin]

Go to Apple.com, click on "Support" and follow the screen prompts to get to an Apple tech support person. You can use Chat, it works really well. They are very responsive and generally pretty knowledgeable. Don't wait. It's not going to magically heal.

 

[IWT]

It's a brand new 16-inch MacBook Pro that came with Catalina installed. I have no other issues apart from this. I've seen a lot of people having the same issues across Apple forums.

Thank you for your very prompt and helpful reply. In that case, as MacInWin (Jake) says, this is a situation for Apple to solve, or replace your MacBook.

Ian

 

[DanCliffordCTFC]

Go to Apple.com, click on "Support" and follow the screen prompts to get to an Apple tech support person. You can use Chat, it works really well. They are very responsive and generally pretty knowledgeable. Don't wait. It's not going to magically heal.

The only thing they suggested was erasing the hard drive and reinstalling Catalina. I don't particually want to go down that route if it doesn't fix the problem. Someone on another forum said they did a clean install and that didn't fix it.

 

[MacInWin]

If the machine is that new, and if Apple suggested reinstall the OS, and you don't want to do that, then there is nothing more to say here. The fact that "someone on another forum" said they tried that and that it didn't work does NOT actually mean they did it, or that it didn't work. You won't know if it fixes it for you until you try it.

If you do give it a go, do a clean install and do not bring back your applications or data until you test to see if a clean install works properly. If it does fix it, then bring back your apps one at a time until it stops working and then uninstall that last app, skip to the next in line and keep going. Eventually you should end up with a list of what makes the problem happen and what does not. At that point you can make a decision on how much you need those things that cause the issue as opposed to the pain you feel when the issue occurs. If you get all your apps installed and it does not reappear, the reinstall fixed it for you.