How to automatically start playing music at startup on Mac

We previously showed you the steps to automatically open your favorite websites without a single click when you turn on your Mac. In this brief tutorial, let us add some music to this.

Here’s how to use the Shortcuts app to automatically play your desired playlist when you turn on your Mac.

Play music on Mac startup

How to play songs automatically when you start your Mac

The steps to do this are simple. You create a shortcut that plays your selected playlist, then you set the shortcut to run automatically on Mac’s startup.

Here’s how to proceed:

1) Open the Shortcuts app on your Mac running macOS Monterey or later.

2) Click the plus icon (+) from the top right.

Create New Shortcut Mac

3) Hover your mouse over the Play Music action and click (i) > Add to Shortcut. If you don’t see Play Music in suggestions, use the search option to find the Play Music action.

Add Play Music action to shortcut

4) Click the light blue “Music” word.

Click Music in Play Music action

5) Now, select the playlist, album, or artist and click Done.

Select playlist to play automatically on Mac startup

6) Rename the shortcut from the top left. You can also customize the icon with color and glyph.

Customize Shortcut Mac

7) Click the red close button to exit this window.

Red close button Mac

8) Select the shortcut from the All Shortcuts window and from the top menu bar, click File > Add to Dock.

Add Shortcut to Dock

9) Right-click the shortcut icon in Mac’s Dock > Options > Open at Login.

Open Shortcut at Login

You have successfully created the shortcut and set it to open automatically at login. From now when your Mac restarts or turns on, the shortcut will launch and play the set playlist or album.

To check, save your ongoing work and restart your Mac. Once your Mac restarts, it will automatically start playing music – without a single click. Enjoy!

If you no longer want to play music at Mac’s startup:

How to start playing a Spotify playlist on startup on Mac

If you’re wondering how to automatically play a Spotify playlist on startup on Mac, these steps won’t work. This is because there are no Spotify actions in the Shortcuts app. I tried to build or find some shortcuts built by someone else on the Internet to do this, but I couldn’t find any.

Finally, I also tried to do the same on iPhone and sync that shortcut to Mac via iCloud. Still, no luck. So, if you know a shortcut or a way to play Spotify automatically on Mac’s startup, kindly share it with us.

Currently, the closest you can come is to have Spotify open automatically when you start your Mac. To do this, open the Spotify app > click your name > Settings > Show Advanced Settings and select Yes for “Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer.” After this, Spotify will open without a click whenever you start your Mac. Now, manually play any playlist you like.

Launch Spotify on Mac Startup

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