“Background Items Added” is macOS telling you that an app has set something to run in the background: a helper that starts at login, an updater that wakes on a schedule, or a service that runs for every user. It isn’t a virus warning. macOS has shown it since Ventura so you can see, and control, what runs on your Mac without a window.
It often comes from updaters such as Google’s (shown as Google LLC or GoogleUpdater), Microsoft AutoUpdate, Adobe and Zoom. Seeing it again after an app updates is normal. Seeing it over and over for the same app usually means the app re-adds its helper each time it runs.
See what was added
Apple menu › System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions (just Login Items on Ventura and Sonoma). The Allow in the Background list shows every app and developer with a background item, and whether it’s allowed to run.
Some entries name a developer rather than an app, because one developer’s helper can serve several of its apps. For the full detail, including the exact files, run this in Terminal (the output is long):
sudo sfltool dumpbtmTurn it off
Switch off the item in the Allow in the Background list. The app still opens and works when you start it; what stops is the part that runs without you. Know what that part does first:
- Updaters: the app stops updating itself, so update it by hand now and then.
- Sync and backup apps: files stop syncing until you open the app.
- Security software and VPNs: leave these on. They need to run in the background to work.
Remove what a deleted app left behind
When you drag an app to the Trash, its background items can stay. Their settings files usually live in one of these folders, named after the developer (for example com.google.keystone.agent.plist):
~/Library/LaunchAgents: started when you log in/Library/LaunchAgents: started for every user who logs in/Library/LaunchDaemons: started with the Mac, before anyone logs in
In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder, paste a path, and move only the files that belong to the app you removed to the Trash. Then restart. If you aren’t sure what a file belongs to, leave it: removing an item for an app you still use can stop that app working properly.
When the notification won’t stop
If it keeps appearing for an item you’ve already turned off, the app is probably adding it back each time it starts. Updating or reinstalling the app often fixes it, and if you no longer use the app, uninstalling it completely does. See how to uninstall apps completely.
As a last resort, sfltool resetbtm clears macOS’s record of background items, which fixes a list that’s out of step with what’s installed. After a restart, every app adds its items again, so you’ll see a round of these notifications once.
Does it slow your Mac down?
One background item rarely does. A dozen updaters and helpers waking on schedules cost login time and occasional bursts of CPU, and they add up on an older or 8 GB Mac. See why a Mac gets slow for how to check.
Unslow lists everything that starts with your Mac under plain names, says who installed each item, and can turn off the ones you don’t need. Updaters that bring security fixes are never ticked for you.