Verified for macOS Tahoe 26.2

Fix Background Items Loop

macOS Sequoia keeps telling you "Background Items Added"? You're not alone. This is a known bug where the background item daemon gets stuck in a notification loop.

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The Symptom

Every time you log in or wake your Mac, a notification (or several) appears saying a background item has been added, even if you haven't installed anything new.

The Fix

  1. Reset the Background Items Database

Open Terminal and run this command to reset the Service Management database:

sbrun reset

*(Note: You may need to use sudo for certain background processes if prompted.)*

  1. Clean up Login Items

Go to System Settings > General > Login Items. Under "Allow in the Background," toggle everything OFF and then back ON. This forces macOS to re-register the background helpers.

  1. Clear the Background Items Cache

In Terminal, run:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.backgroundtaskmanagementagent/*

Restart your Mac immediately after.


Pro Tip

If the notification mentions a specific app you no longer use, search for that app's leftovers in /Library/LaunchAgents and ~/Library/LaunchAgents.