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Windows 10 Startup Programs – How to Edit & Change

Windows 10 might seem quite fast and sleek at the time of fresh installation but in the course of time, every operating system becomes sluggish and laggy. Unfortunately, Windows 10 is not an exception for that. Over a period of time, Windows 10 generates a lot of files in the system folder according to the usage of the system and many unnecessary files get left behind. As a result, the system becomes slower. This mostly dampens the boot time of the system. In many cases, Windows takes up to twice time for boot as compared to a fresh system. This is because of the unnecessary programs which launch at the time of startup. These programs are called “Startup programs”.

What Are Startup Programs in Windows 10?

Windows 10 Startup Programs

Startup programs are software that runs automatically when you log in and can serve many different purposes. Most common startup programs contain antivirus programs, Social media services like Skype, cloud storage services, various drivers Etc. For many of them, you can see icons in the notification area at the bottom right. Many of these programs might get installed by its own and you may not require them at all. Ergo, it is beneficial for you to remove such programs to speed up your system.

However, in the same way, many malware and adware programs can also get added to this list. This programs can be potentially harmful and it may cause data theft or other privacy intrusions. Hence, the user must remove such programs from the startup programs to prevent their operation.

In this article, we will cover various methods to manage startup programs in Windows 10. Here, you will acknowledge where the automatic start of programs can be registered and how to remove, disable, or add the program to autostart.

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Windows 10 Startup Programs – How to Edit & Change

Method 1: Startup Programs In Task Manager

The first place where you can explore the startup programs in Windows 10 is the Task Manager. The task manager contains the information about all the processes running in your system at the moment. It also contains a list of all the startup programs. You can easily navigate through this list and manage the programs according to your requirement.

To use task manager to manage startup programs, follow the steps provided below:

  1. Press right click on the “Start menu“. Select “Task Manager” from the list to open Task manager.
    Task manager option in start menu
  2. Now, once the task manager is opened, Click on “More details” to open the extended task manager.
    More details option on task manager
  3. Now, in the extended task manager, click on “Startup” option to open the startup tab.
    Startup option in task manager
  4. Here, you will see the list of all the programs which will run at the time of boot. From here, you can enable or disable a particular program at startup. To disable a program, simply right click on the program and select “Disable” from the drop-down menu.
    Disable a startup program from task manager

We will recommend that you check the program before disabling it as some programs are essential for the operation of windows (e.g, Display driver, Windows services etc)

Method 2: Using The Windows 10 Startup folder

Windows creates a startup folder at the time of installation. In this folder, various programs which are supposed to be launched at the time of boot are added automatically. But, the folder is accessible and a user can manually add or remove any program from that folder. The program which is not in the Windows startup folder will not be launched at the time of boot.

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To use the windows startup folder to manage the startup program, follow the steps provided below:

  1. To navigate to the Windows startup folder, copy the following path and paste it in the address bar of windows explorer.
    “C:\Users\*Username*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup”
    You must replace *Username* with the actual username of the account you are currently logged in with.
    Ex.
    Path for Windows startup folder.
  2. After putting the path in the address bar, simply press “Enter” to open the Startup folder.
  3. Now, you will be redirected to the Startup folder. In this folder, you can see all the startup programs.
  4. To remove any program from the startup, simply delete the program from the folder.
  5. To add any particular software in the startup program list, simply create a shortcut of the program and move the shortcut in this folder.
    Ex.
    Adding a program to startup folder

Method 3: Using the Services Management Console

The services management console is a window where all the services of the system are displayed. You can access this console to check the status of any available service in the system. You can enable/disable the service or you can modify the startup type of the service as well.

To use the services management console, follow the steps provided below:

  1. Press “Windows key+R” to open the “Run” window.
    Run Window
  2. Type “Services.msc” in the window and click “OK”
    Services.msc command in run window
  3. Now, the services management console will be opened.
    Service management console
  4. Now, all you have to do is select the service which you wish to modify and then right click on the service. Select “properties” from the menu.
    Windows 10 Services
  5. Now, you can modify the service attributes according to your will.
    Modifying a service in the console
    You can toggle the current status of the service by using the “Start” and “Stop” keys. You can also tweak the startup type of the service as shown in the image above.
  6. Click on “Apply” to save the changes and then you can close the services management console.
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Method 4: Using the Windows Registry

The word “Registry” means a place where all the records are kept. The same stands for the case of Windows Registry. Windows Registry is a tool which stores all the data concerning with various states of settings provided in the Windows. Windows registry also keeps track of the startup programs. You can edit the Windows registry to change the state of a particular program.

To use the Windows registry to manage startup programs, follow the following steps:

  1. Open the start menu and search “Regedit”. Click on the “Regedit” option to open the registry editor.
    Regedit option in start menu
  2. Now, in the registry editor, trace the following path.
    “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run”
    Path to trace startup programs in registry editor
  3. Now, the list on the right side displays the current startup programs. To remove the program, simply right click on the program and select “Delete” option.
    Delete the program from startup

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