Launch on startup setting reenabling itself on Mac

Miroslav_sedy_123

Hello,

few colleagues and I have noticed that Teamviewer on MacOS automatically launches on startup. That would normally be fine, as there is an option for this in preferences. But the issue is that even if you disable launch on startup in preferences. After just a restart, the app re-enables this setting and launches automatically again.

So far I have tried reinstalling the app and disabling the launch setting, but that hasn't changed a thing.

I use macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 and Teamviewer Version: 15.14.5 (f7f121a047a)

Has this been reported? Can we do something about this?

Regards,

Miroslav

JeanK

Hello @MatPac,

Thank you for helping us in our investigation.

According to our dev team, there seem to be entries that prevent TeamViewer from running successfully.

Our advice is to run the following commands.

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.service" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.plist

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.desktop" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.$(id -u).plist

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.teamviewer" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.$(id -u).plist

After running these commands, restart your Mac. TeamViewer should start/not start as expected now.

Can you confirm?

MatPac

Same here.

Bump topic.

Anyone know the solution to this problem?

seaphotog

just added a separate question on this (before I saw yours) - not a big deal, but annoying

MatPac

https://community.teamviewer.com/English/discussion/comment/125572#Comment_125572

I agree. No big deal, but very annoying :/ TeamViewer releases updates that don't fix the problem. As if nothing had happened.

Janne_M

Even if it is not selected, TeamViewer will still start after restarting the computer. (see picture) Is there any reason for that?

Uses: macOS 11.6

Regards Janne

JeanK

Hello @Janne_M

I remember seeing a user having the same problem.

What you could try is to fully uninstall TeamViewer from your Mac and reinstall a fresh version from our website.

We do have a guide that explains how to uninstall TeamViewer in the best way. Please follow the steps!

https://community.teamviewer.com/English/kb/articles/4165-how-do-i-uninstall-teamviewer-on-my-mac

Let me know if this could fix the issue!

redmantra

I'm getting the same issue and just means I need to remember to stop it every time I boot. As has been said previously, very annoying that Teamviewer haven't picked up on this and fixed it.

Janne_M

I've done it once before. I can try again.

/J

JeanK

Sounds good! Please let me know if this has worked...

I might have a last resort solution in case this does not work. 🧐

Janne_M

I still have the same problem. Have reinstalled as recommended.

/ Janne

frietzooi

Same problem here. Quite annoying indeed.

MacOS 11.6 / TeamViewer 15.22.3 (1d46fbc0112)

MatPac

In brief:

I fixed the problem by accident - I used CCleaner.

Long story:

I used CCleaner, I wanted to "clean up" the disk, but by the way I clicked on: "Autostart optimization". For some unknown reason, Teamviewer is triple on the application list. Having the following options: deactivate and delete. Deactivate did not work with Teamviewer, so I removed all 3 Teamviewer exeplars not knowing what would happen, e.g. new problems with the program 😉. Finally, Teamviewer works, but it doesn't start up unwanted at startup.

Maybe someone knows why only ccleaner "saw" Teamviewer in the Autostart triple, and system applications did not see at all?

redmantra

Thanks @MatPac . Just installed CCleaner and like you said there were three entries in my startup. Removed all and now it doesn't start up on boot. Why TeamViewer haven't figured this out is interesting.

JeanK

Hello @MacPat and @redmantra,

Thank you for the interaction and for sharing your solution! 🤩

We will definitely share this piece of information with our dev team and check if this could be an official fix. 🙌

All the best,

JeanK

JeanK

Message to users that still have the issue

On behalf of @MoreCoffee, our dev team would like to investigate this issue further.

In order to help us to find the root cause of this unexpected behaviour, it would be fantastic if you could proceed as described below.

How you can help us?

1) Open the Terminal

To find out how to open it, please check this article from the Apple forum: Open or quit Terminal on Mac

2) Type the following command:

cat /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.plist

3) Press ENTER

If there is any output showing up, please share it in the thread below.

Please repeat the same procedure with the command:

cat /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.$(id -u).plist

This would be a huge help for our investigation.

Thank you in advance for your support and help! 🙏💙

@Miroslav_sedy_123 @seaphotog @Janne_M @frietzooi

MatPac

https://community.teamviewer.com/English/discussion/comment/128076#Comment_128076

Hello @JeanK This is my output

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>org.pqrs.karabiner.karabiner_grabber</key>
	<false/>
	<key>com.apple.CSCSupportd</key>
	<true/>
	<key>com.apple.ftpd</key>
	<true/>
	<key>com.apple.mdmclient.daemon.runatboot</key>
	<true/>
	<key>com.teamviewer.service</key>
	<false/>
	<key>org.pqrs.karabiner.karabiner_observer</key>
	<false/>
	<key>com.apple.bootpd</key>
	<true/>
	<key>com.ea.origin.ESHelper</key>
	<false/>
	<key>org.pqrs.Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDDeviceClient</key>
	<false/>
	<key>com.eset.esets_daemon</key>
	<false/>
	<key>com.apple.ftp-proxy</key>
	<true/>
	<key>com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper</key>
	<false/>
</dict>
</plist>

I am posting because a few days ago TeamViewer started to launch on startup.

Maybe it is related to some system update, I don't know.

Anyway I uninstalled CCleaner in the meantime. It's not very convenient to use a regular external program to kill the startup process.

I also updated TeamViewer to the latest version hoping to fix the bug. It did not help.

Greetings, I am counting on help.

JeanK

Hello @MatPac,

Thank you for helping us in our investigation.

According to our dev team, there seem to be entries that prevent TeamViewer from running successfully.

Our advice is to run the following commands.

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.service" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.plist

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.desktop" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.$(id -u).plist

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.teamviewer" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.$(id -u).plist

After running these commands, restart your Mac. TeamViewer should start/not start as expected now.

Can you confirm?

MatPac

@JeanK I confirm, your advice worked.

JeanK

@Miroslav_sedy_123 @seaphotog @Janne_M @redmantra @frietzooi

The commands below have fixed the issue on @MatPac's device.

Could you give it a try on your devices and check if it also fixes the issue?

https://community.teamviewer.com/English/discussion/comment/130297#Comment_130297

P.S: you only need to open the Terminal, enter the entries that are mentioned and then restart your device.

Many thanks in advance for your help and feedback. 🙏

Webin

One of our Mac users reported this same issue and tried the three plist commands. The first command returned "file does not exist", but the other two commands worked. On reboot, TeamViewer did not auto start.

PeterConnolly

Hi,

Years on and you still haven't fixed this, which makes me think that you want this behaviour for some nefarious reason. Are you a US or Isreali company by any chance? I ask because they are well know for allowing illegal backdoor entry to PCs. You might think this is paranoid but then you obviously haven't been paying attention!!

AGAIN WHY IS THIS STILL NOT FIXED AFTER SEVERAL YEARS!!!!!!!

As this is a huge security problem and they haven't done ANYTHING the logical answer is they are somehow gaining from this!!!

PeterConnolly

I tried the following solution suggested by ' JeanK Community Manager' but it didn't work:

"...

Hello @MatPac,

Thank you for helping us in our investigation.

According to our dev team, there seem to be entries that prevent TeamViewer from running successfully.

Our advice is to run the following commands.

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.service" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.plist

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.desktop" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.$(id -u).plist

sudo /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.teamviewer.teamviewer" /var/db/com.apple.xpc.launchd/disabled.$(id -u).plist

After running these commands, restart your Mac. TeamViewer should start/not start as expected now.

Can you confirm?

..."

PeterConnolly

This looks really useful! He describes different ways to find apps the launch automatically at start. Nearly all of these methods I haven't found anywhere else. He starts with the obvious one. Well worth a watch!

Where To Find Apps That Launch Automatically On a Mac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCkZZth-wKs

Tapper

I am running Teamviewer remote Version: 15.54.6 and there is no option in the Preferences to stop the app from running upon computer startup or reboot. This is maddening. The users only options are to keep it always running or completely uninstall it. I do think the app works well otherwise but this is a slap in the face to not allow a user to control whether the app automatically launches at startup.

Look at the mess of startup files in below screenshot.