This process was so simple in previous versions of Windows where you’d simply copy a shortcut to an executable, into the startup folder. There’s three methods described here.
Table of Contents
Settings
From the settings app (WIN + I) or directly typing startup into the start menu, you can find a list of apps with toggle switches to enable automatic startup.
Startup Folder Shortcut
Some apps aren’t visible to the above list (especially if they are not installed e.g. portable). Navigate to the folder:
C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartupAnd create a new shortcut with a reference to the applications full location. Additional parameters for execution can be included within the shortcut.
Or alternatively, create the shortcut to the executable (CTRL + SHIFT + LEFT DRAG) and move that into the startup folder.
msconfig
Finally, I found the System Configuration tool really useful in Windows 10 and it’s back in Windows 11. Often any difficulty I had with trying to disable apps from auto-starting was resolved with this utility. You can see services that are set to run on startup as well but the startup tab now just redirects you task manager.
Which then looks like this:
