Title: You’ve Been Logging into MacOS Wrong This Whole Time—Here’s How to Fix It!
If you’re a MacOS user, you’ve probably been logging into your computer the same way for years. You hit the power button, wait for the login screen to appear, and type in your username and password. Seems simple enough, right? However, there’s a better way to log in, and it’s been available for years. Here’s how to fix it and make your MacOS experience even smoother.
The Problem
When you log in to your MacOS computer, you’re accessing your entire user account. That means all your applications, documents, and settings are all being opened at once. While this may seem convenient, it can actually slow down your computer and cause it to take longer to start up.
The Solution
The solution is to use “Fast User Switching.” Fast User Switching is a feature that allows multiple users to have separate user sessions running on the same computer. It’s often used in workplaces or households where multiple people share a computer. However, it’s also a great way for individual users to separate their work and personal files, or to maintain separate environments for different tasks (e.g., gaming, work, media consumption).
How to Set It Up
Setting up Fast User Switching is easy. First, open “System Preferences” and click on the “Users & Groups” icon. Click the lock button in the bottom left corner of the window to unlock the options, and then enter your password.
Next, click the “Login Options” tab. Here, you’ll see an option called “Fast User Switching.” Click the checkbox next to it to enable the feature.
Once you’ve enabled it, you’ll see a menubar icon in the top-right corner of your screen. Click on it, and you’ll see a list of available user accounts. Select the account you want to switch to, and your current session will be suspended while the new account is loaded.
Benefits of Fast User Switching
Using Fast User Switching has several benefits:
Improved performance: By only opening the applications and files you need, you’ll improve your computer’s performance and speed up the login process.
Better organization: By separating your files and applications into different user accounts, you’ll have a more organized computer and be able to find things quicker.
Better security: Fast User Switching allows you to have separate login information for each user account. This can be especially useful for those who share a computer with others, as you can be sure that your files and information are secure.
Conclusion
If you’re a MacOS user, you may have been logging into your computer the wrong way for years. By using Fast User Switching, you can improve your computer’s performance, better organize your files and applications, and enhance your security. It takes just a few minutes to set up, so give it a try and see how it improves your MacOS experience.
One feature that does a great job with that very thing is called Login Items. When you add an app as a Login Item, that app will always automatically start as soon as you log in to the desktop. To some, that may not sound like much. After all, it only takes a couple of clicks to launch an app, right? But what if you’re constantly on the go and, for whatever reason, have to regularly power off your laptop? When you log back in, you have to restart all the apps you use. That’s not terribly efficient. Also: What is MacOS Stage Manager and how do you enable it? I want to show you how easy it is to add apps such that they’ll start upon login. Although this isn’t a game-changer, it might also help you to know how to remove apps from startup, if you happen to have pesky apps that you don’t need to open right away.
How to configure apps to start upon login with MacOS
Let’s get into it.
Requirements
The only thing you’ll need is a device running MacOS, so a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or iMac will do just fine. One thing to keep in mind is the version of MacOS you use might not be the same as mine. I’ll be demonstrating on MacOS Ventura v13.0. If you’re using a version of the operating system that is older, the location of the Login Items will be different. The good thing is that MacOS makes it pretty easy to find these things. With that said, it’s time to add an application or two to the login.
Removing apps from the Login Items list
If either you find you no longer want that app to start at login, or you’ve found somehow that rogue apps managed to get configured to do so, to remove them all you have to do is go back to Login Items, select the app you want to remove, and click - (the minus sign). Also: How to force-quit a stubborn app in MacOS And that’s all there is to adding apps such that they automatically start as soon as you log in to your MacOS device.
