I would not hold you wrong if you thought I was a bit crazy when looking at the title post. After all, who wants to add programs to Windows Startup and make it even slower? All we do is keep removing programs or at least delay them. So, what’s the real idea of this topic? It’s about to inform you about a change in Windows, and a ubiquitous question asked: Where is the startup folder in Windows? In this post, we will learn how to disable and add Startup programs in Windows 11/10
Where is the Startup Folder?
That’s an excellent question, and sadly for freshly installed Windows 8 Users, this option is missing, but for Windows 7 users who upgraded to Windows 8 or Windows 10, this folder is still in place. I was pretty sure of that because I could even see some of my old programs launched after the upgrade.
Important: Also, to let you know that you can no longer manage Windows 8 Startup programs from MSCONFIG. Instead, it’s now managed by Task Manager. Launch the Task Manager and switch to the Startup Tab.
If the StartUp folder is missing :
If you had used Windows 7, it was always there in Programs Menu and in two places. One was common to all users, while the other was user-specific. Create a folder named Startup
- User Specific: C:\Users\XYZ\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
- All Users : C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
If its already there :
Type the following in the Run Prompt (Win+R) for quick access.
- shell:startup (User Specific)
- shell:common startup (All Users)
How To Disable and Add Startup Programs in Windows
Now we will learn how to add a program to Windows Startup manually and also learn to disable startup programs in Windows 11/10
- Add Programs to Startup in Windows
- Disable Startup programs in Windows
Do note that the programs, which are manually included, do not have any impact rating. I guess that Windows does rank it over time, but for the program above, which had been there since the upgrade, there was no ranking.
1] Add Programs to Startup in Windows
Windows launch any executable program which is available in Windows 10 Startup Folder. So all you need is a shortcut in that folder of the program you would like to add. You may find it odd, but it’s missing if you right-click on the startup folder and look for the New Shortcut action. You are only allowed to create folders. So this is what you need to do.
- Right Click on the Desktop > New Shortcut > Browser for Program > Done.
- Now drag and drop this shortcut on your Desktop to the Start-up folder.
2] Disable Startup programs in Windows
If you want to remove anything from the startup folder, I suggest you disable it instead of using Task Manager. That way, you have an option to re-enable it whenever you want, and you will never have to remember what was the program name.
Let us know if these tips helped you speed up your computer boot time or add programs you always wanted to boot with Windows.
