Windows · Apps

Manage Apps That Run at Startup

Startup Apps controls which programs automatically launch in the background when you sign in to Windows. Each app is labeled with an impact rating (Low, Medium, or High) based on how much it slows down startup, so you can quickly identify and disable the ones actually worth turning off.

How to open Startup Apps

  1. Open Settings → Apps → Startup.
  2. Sort the list by 'Startup impact' if available.
  3. Toggle off any app you don't need launching automatically.
  4. Restart your PC to confirm the change takes effect.

What you should know

  • Toggle any listed app off to stop it from launching automatically at sign-in.
  • Impact ratings are calculated from actual measured effect on boot time, not app size.
  • Disabling an app here doesn't uninstall it — you can still open it manually anytime.
  • Sort by 'Startup impact' to quickly find the worst offenders instead of scanning the whole list.

Some apps you disable here re-enable themselves after their own update, so it's worth rechecking this list occasionally rather than assuming a one-time cleanup is permanent.

Why it matters

Every app set to launch at startup adds to the time between pressing the power button and actually being able to use your PC, and background apps you never manually open are pure waste sitting in memory. This page turns a vague sense that 'my PC takes forever to start' into an actionable list ranked by real measured impact, rather than guesswork. Trimming genuinely unnecessary startup apps is one of the highest-value, lowest-risk performance tweaks available, since it costs nothing and doesn't remove any software.

Best practices

  • Sort by 'Startup impact' and disable High-impact apps you don't need running the moment you sign in.
  • Keep security software and sync clients like OneDrive enabled at startup, since delaying them defeats their purpose.
  • Recheck this list after installing new software, since many installers add themselves to startup without asking.
  • Disable an app here rather than uninstalling it if you still want to use it occasionally, just not automatically.

Common problems and fixes

PC takes noticeably longer to become responsive after signing in.
Sort Startup Apps by impact and disable High-impact entries you don't need running immediately, especially ones you rarely open manually.
A disabled app keeps reappearing as enabled after updates.
Some apps silently re-register themselves at startup during their own update process — disable it again, or check that app's own settings for a 'launch at startup' option to turn off at the source.
An app isn't listed here even though it clearly launches at sign-in.
Some startup entries are registered through Task Scheduler or a Windows service rather than the standard startup mechanism, and won't appear on this page — check Task Scheduler's Task Scheduler Library for scheduled logon triggers instead.

Tips and tricks

  • Cross-check High-impact apps here against Task Manager's Startup tab (Ctrl+Shift+Esc), which shows the same list with a slightly different layout some people find easier to scan.
  • Disable startup entries for apps you only use occasionally rather than daily, keeping true background essentials like antivirus and cloud sync enabled.

Frequently asked questions

Does disabling a startup app close it permanently?

No, it only stops the app from launching automatically when you sign in — you can still open it manually anytime the same way you always would.

How is the startup impact rating calculated?

Windows measures the actual CPU and disk usage each app causes during the startup window over recent boots, rather than estimating it from the app's installed size.

Why did an app I disabled start launching at startup again?

Software updates occasionally re-register an app's startup entry without asking, so it's worth periodically rechecking this list, especially after updating frequently-used apps.

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