Background items, grouped
- Left behind by deleted apps: agents and daemons whose program no longer exists. These are almost always safe to remove.
- Your background agents: from
~/Library/LaunchAgents, with Running or Stopped status and a Start or Stop button. - Agents for every user: from
/Library/LaunchAgents. - System daemons: from
/Library/LaunchDaemons. Ones that need an administrator to remove show a lock.
Plug-ins in 18 categories
Audio units, VST, VST3 and CLAP plug-ins, Quick Look and Spotlight importers, preference panes, screen savers, internet plug-ins, Core Image filters, colour pickers, fonts, dictionaries, Automator actions, Safari extensions, Motion templates, Services, contextual menu items, input methods and widgets, each with its size and location.
Why it matters
Orphaned agents can slow login, fill logs with errors trying to launch a program that's gone, or keep an uninstalled app's updater running. Stale plug-ins can crash the host app that loads them. Removing them goes through the Trash like everything else in Broom, so you can put them back.
Removing the app itself? The app uninstaller takes its leftovers with it.
Questions
What are launch agents on Mac?
Small property list files that tell macOS to start a program at login (agents) or at boot (daemons). Apps use them for updaters, sync and helpers.
Where are launch agents stored?
~/Library/LaunchAgents for your account, /Library/LaunchAgents for every user, and /Library/LaunchDaemons for system-wide daemons.
Is it safe to delete launch agents?
Ones whose app is gone, yes. For ones still in use, removing them stops that feature of the app. Broom lists orphans separately and sends removed items to the Trash.
How do I see login items on Mac?
System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions lists them, but it doesn't show where they come from or whether the app still exists. Broom does.