Random opening of programs

[rdgallo]

My Macbook Pro (2017 model) randomly opens programs while I am using it and when put to sleep by closing the lid. I can close the lid on my Macbook Pro and after some time, it will open programs on its own. Sometimes it is SIRI talking and other times it will have some video running along with other programs open. I have run the disk utility and have restarted in Safe Mode and this has not solved the problem. I am currently running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6. I have searched for a solution on Google and cannot find it even though there are many people with the same issue. Any help provided will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Have you had any liquid spilled on this machine? With the lid closed, the machine should be going to sleep first of all. The random stuff happening might be key clicks or something.

Can you keep the lid open and then choose Apple icon (on top left) and Sleep and see if it properly goes to sleep and you don't have any random things happening?

 

[rdgallo]

The computer is actually my wife's computer. Nothing has been spilled on the keyboard. Programs will randomly open while she is using the computer and after it has been put to sleep when she closes the lid and goes to bed. After she goes to bed, I will be sitting at my computer (right next to hers) and hers will start talking (either Siri or some video). I will reach over and open the lid and there will be many programs open at the same time. I have never just put her computer to sleep manually and then watched to see what happens. I will try that today. Thanks for your response.

New info.....my wife just corrected me. Her computer only opens programs randomly while the lid is closed..never while the lid is open and she is working on it. She says she can close the lid and when she comes back to the computer and opens it, there are several programs running that were not running when she shut the lid. So, I guess the problem is programs opening when the lid is shut (computer sleeping?) Sorry for the confusion.

 

[MacInWin]

This is a long shot, but you might check System Preferences/Accessability and see if under the "Interaction" area the "Dictation" is set up. The computer might be reacting to sounds it interprets as audio commands.

 

[rachalmers]

It might also have Alexa or Siri running, or something in Accessibility...


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[rdgallo]

This is a long shot, but you might check System Preferences/Accessability and see if under the "Interaction" area the "Dictation" is set up. The computer might be reacting to sounds it interprets as audio commands.

I checked this out and the "Dictation" is off. Good suggestion though. Thank you!

 

[rdgallo]

It might also have Alexa or Siri running, or something in Accessibility...

We don't have an Alexa and I am pretty sure Siri is not running. However, sometimes Siri is one of the apps that is running when I hear the computer "talking" with the lid closed. It has me baffled. Like I said, others on Google have had the same issue, but I cannot find any posts saying what fixed it.

 

[rdgallo]

More information. This morning when my wife opened the lid on her MacBook Pro, there were several things "opened". I looked at what was opened and everything that was running were things that she has icons for on her desktop. I am not sure if this helps in the trouble shooting, but I hope so. Thanks for any help provided.

 

[rachalmers]

How secure is your network? also, have you been installing random "Your Flash needs updating. click here" popups?
Put Malawarebytes on and run that. Also run Etrecheck. If there is anything amiss, they will find it. Both free versions.

 

[rdgallo]

How secure is your network? also, have you been installing random "Your Flash needs updating. click here" popups?
Put Malawarebytes on and run that. Also run Etrecheck. If there is anything amiss, they will find it. Both free versions.

We probably have done the Flash popup at one time or another. I have the Malawarebytes and will run it. I also will check out and run the Etrecheck. Thanks for your help!

 

[MacInWin]

I looked at what was opened and everything that was running were things that she has icons for on her desktop.

Can we revisit this comment? What do you mean, exactly, by "icons for on her desktop?" Do you mean on the Dock across the bottom or side, or actually on the Desktop? Apps should NOT have icons on the desktop as that is not where apps install. Apps are in the Applications folder and may show on the Dock as they are running or, in Mojave, if they recently ran. Other than that, apps should not have icons on the Desktop.

 

[rdgallo]

Can we revisit this comment? What do you mean, exactly, by "icons for on her desktop?" Do you mean on the Dock across the bottom or side, or actually on the Desktop? Apps should NOT have icons on the desktop as that is not where apps install. Apps are in the Applications folder and may show on the Dock as they are running or, in Mojave, if they recently ran. Other than that, apps should not have icons on the Desktop.

I guess I have used the wrong terminology. The "stuff" on the desktop are shortcuts (Icons) to things like Facebook, The Weather Channel, News, etc. These are the various things that start up when the lid is closed and the unit is "sleeping". Sorry.

 

[MacInWin]

OK, so Facebook, TWC, News, etc, are websites, not applications. Just to be clear, then, applications are not starting up, but websites are opened in Safari? Or whatever is the browser of choice? It is important to be clear because applications and websites are not the same and the solutions won't be the same, either.

 

[rdgallo]

OK, so Facebook, TWC, News, etc, are websites, not applications. Just to be clear, then, applications are not starting up, but websites are opened in Safari? Or whatever is the browser of choice? It is important to be clear because applications and websites are not the same and the solutions won't be the same, either.

Thanks. They are opening in Safari.

 

[MacInWin]

So one quick suggestion is to close Safari completely before closing the lid. By that, I mean to click on the "Safari" on the top bar, then "Quit Safari" to shut it down. Or you can use CMD-Q to close it. I think what is happening is that she is minimizing the websites she goes to, or minimizing Safari, then closes the lid, which puts it to sleep. Opening the lid wakes it up and in that process it opens all the pages that were open (but minimized) when it was put to sleep. So shutting down Safari should stop that behavior (which is normal, I think).

 

[rdgallo]

So one quick suggestion is to close Safari completely before closing the lid. By that, I mean to click on the "Safari" on the top bar, then "Quit Safari" to shut it down. Or you can use CMD-Q to close it. I think what is happening is that she is minimizing the websites she goes to, or minimizing Safari, then closes the lid, which puts it to sleep. Opening the lid wakes it up and in that process it opens all the pages that were open (but minimized) when it was put to sleep. So shutting down Safari should stop that behavior (which is normal, I think).

All good points. However, she is not minimizing websites when done with them. She always closes them with the red X in the left upper corner. Also, websites are opening with the lid closed, and those that have sound you can hear. It is really weird. She always goes to bed before I do, and I will be using my computer while seated next to hers that has the lid closed and all of a sudden something with sound is playing on her computer. I will then open the lid and all kinds of websites are running. I usually just mute the sound on hers and reclose the lid.

 

[MacInWin]

The red X does not close. It minimizes. So Safari is still running, and still tracking those minimized websites. And if any event occurs to wake up the Mac when the lid is closed (arriving email, notifications, etc), then as part of the wake up routine all those minimized sites will be opened. To close Safari you use CMD+q or Safari/Quit Safari, as I said.

EDIT: If you want to see that the X does not close Safari, watch the activity dot below the Safari icon on the Dock. Click the red X and the activity dot stays there, showing the application is still running, but in the background. You can also close it by right clicking on the icon on the Dock and selecting "Quit."

 

[rdgallo]

The red X does not close. It minimizes. So Safari is still running, and still tracking those minimized websites. And if any event occurs to wake up the Mac when the lid is closed (arriving email, notifications, etc), then as part of the wake up routine all those minimized sites will be opened. To close Safari you use CMD+q or Safari/Quit Safari, as I said.

EDIT: If you want to see that the X does not close Safari, watch the activity dot below the Safari icon on the Dock. Click the red X and the activity dot stays there, showing the application is still running, but in the background. You can also close it by right clicking on the icon on the Dock and selecting "Quit."

Ok. Thanks. My Macbook pro is running the same OS as hers and I close websites (or minimize by red x’ing) the same way she does. Why do I not have the same issue with my computer as she does? If the red X does not close the website, but instead minimizes it, what is the yellow minus button next to the red x do? I am not trying to be a smart Alec but truly would like to know.

 

[MacInWin]

The yellow "-" minimizes the page to the Dock, the red X pushes the application off the desktop completely, but leaves it running. A sleeping Mac, when wakened, tries to restore the "state" of the machine when it went to sleep, which would include re-initializing all the apps and restoring the state they were in. For Safari, that would mean opening the pages it was tracking at the time. As for why hers does what it does and yours does not, it could be in your settings for how the machine is to react to the lid closing. For example, she may have "Wake for network access" checked on the Energy Saver page of System Preferences, while you may not. So when a network event occurs, her machine wakes up, Safari is restored and you get sounds/images on her machine. If you don't have it selected, then no network events wake up your machine. And, even if you do get a wake up on network access, your Safari pages you had left open may not have videos attached to make noise, or you actually left the page before you closed the lid, so Safari is not tracking any pages. Lots of reasons for the two acting differently.

EDIT: Just to be clear, both the red and yellow have about the same effect, as Safari is still running in both options. The yellow puts the page on the Dock, the red pushes it into what is called the background.

 

[rachalmers]

My Macbook Pro (2017 model) randomly opens programs while I am using it and when put to sleep by closing the lid. I can close the lid on my Macbook Pro and after some time, it will open programs on its own. Sometimes it is SIRI talking and other times it will have some video running along with other programs open. I have run the disk utility and have restarted in Safe Mode and this has not solved the problem. I am currently running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6. I have searched for a solution on Google and cannot find it even though there are many people with the same issue. Any help provided will be greatly appreciated.

You may find that it’s a dodgy trackpad. Which of course means a visit to Apple. I don’t know any other way of checking it. Replacement usually fixes it.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums