How to disable startup apps in Windows 11 and Windows 10

Q: Where is the startup folder in Windows 11?

Press Windows key + R, type shell:startup and press Enter. It opens your personal Startup folder, which sits inside the Start Menu folder in your user profile. The folder for all users opens with shell:common startup .

To disable startup apps in Windows 11 or Windows 10, open Settings, go to Apps, then Startup, and switch off the apps you don’t need at sign-in. Task Manager shows the same list with an impact rating for each app. Disabling an app doesn’t uninstall it, and you can switch it back on at any time.

Last updated October 25, 2026 · Steps checked against Microsoft Support

The short version

Settings: Start → Settings → Apps → Startup, then turn apps off.
Task Manager: press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, open Startup apps, select an app and choose Disable.
Startup folder: press Windows key + R, type shell:startup, and remove shortcuts you don’t want.
Leave security software and hardware utilities alone unless you know what they do.

Method 1: Turn off startup apps in Settings

This is the simplest way, and Microsoft documents it for both Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Select Start, then Settings.
Go to Apps, then Startup.
Turn off the switch next to each app you don’t want to start when you sign in.

Some apps have a small arrow next to the switch. Select it to see that app’s own startup options.

Method 2: Disable startup apps in Task Manager

Task Manager shows the same list as Settings, with more detail, including how much each app slows your startup.

Windows 11

Right-click the Start button and choose Task Manager, or press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
Select Startup apps in the menu on the left.
Select an app, then choose Disable. You can also right-click the app and choose Disable.

Windows 10

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
If you see a small window with just a list of apps, select More details at the bottom.
Open the Startup tab, select an app, and choose Disable in the bottom-right corner.

Method 3: Use the Startup folder

Some apps don’t register with Windows as startup apps, so they don’t appear in Settings or Task Manager. Microsoft says these are handled through File Explorer instead.

Press Windows key + R to open the Run box.
Type shell:startup and press Enter. This opens your own Startup folder, which lives in the Start Menu folder inside your user profile’s AppData folder.
To stop an app from starting, remove its shortcut from this folder.

For apps that start for every account on the PC, type shell:common startup instead.

Tip: Instead of deleting a shortcut, move it to a folder on your desktop. If you miss the app, move the shortcut back.

How to judge startup impact

Task Manager rates each startup app by the CPU time and disk activity it used during startup. Microsoft defines the ratings like this:

Rating	What it means
High	More than 1 second of CPU time, or more than 3 MB of disk activity
Medium	300 milliseconds to 1 second of CPU time, or 292 KB to 3 MB of disk activity
Low	Less than 300 milliseconds of CPU time and less than 292 KB of disk activity
Not measured	Enabled, but Windows has no data on it yet
None	The app is disabled

High and Medium apps are the best place to start, because they cost the most at startup. A Low rating doesn’t mean an app is safe to disable, and a High one doesn’t mean it’s unnecessary. The rating only measures startup cost, not how useful the app is to you.

A practical approach: disable one or two apps you recognize and don’t need at sign-in, restart, and check that everything still works. Repeat until startup feels better.

What not to disable

Most startup apps are safe to turn off. Apps such as chat, game launchers and updaters for software you rarely use can usually wait until you open them yourself. Be more careful with these:

Security software. Leave entries for Windows Security or your antivirus alone. If a security app’s pop-ups bother you, change its notification settings instead.
Hardware utilities. Programs for your audio, graphics card or touchpad sometimes run features you rely on, such as special keys, sound settings or touchpad gestures. If something stops working after you disable one, turn it back on.
Cloud sync and backup. If you disable OneDrive or another sync app, your files won’t sync or back up until you open it.
Password managers. PCWorld lists a password manager, along with sound and graphics software, among the few startup apps most people should keep.

If you don’t recognize an entry, leave it enabled until you’ve found out what it is. Searching the entry’s exact name online usually tells you which program it belongs to.

How to re-enable a startup app

Go back to Settings → Apps → Startup and turn the switch on, or select the app in Task Manager’s startup list and choose Enable. For the Startup folder, put the shortcut back. The change takes effect the next time you sign in.

A note on the registry

Windows also stores startup entries in the registry, in keys named Run under HKEY_CURRENT_USER (for your account) and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (for all users). Settings and Task Manager already show these entries. Microsoft warns that editing the registry can have unintended consequences, so back it up first, and only edit it to fix a broken entry.

If startup is still slow

Trimming startup apps helps, but it won’t fix everything on an old PC. If yours still has a hard drive, read our SSD upgrade guide. Our guide to speeding up a slow laptop covers the other fixes, and our RAM guide explains whether more memory would help.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the startup folder in Windows 11?

Press Windows key + R, type shell:startup and press Enter. It opens your personal Startup folder, which sits inside the Start Menu folder in your user profile. The folder for all users opens with shell:common startup.

What is a startup app in Windows?

It’s a program that launches automatically when you sign in, whether or not you use it. Microsoft suggests disabling the ones you don’t need to reduce background activity, which helps most on an older PC.

Is it safe to disable all startup apps?

Disabling a startup app doesn’t delete it, so you can always turn it back on. Still, don’t disable everything at once: keep security software, and be careful with audio, graphics and touchpad utilities. Disable a few at a time and restart to check.

Why is my laptop so slow to start up?

Too many startup apps is a common cause, and it’s the easiest to fix. Check Task Manager’s startup list for High-impact apps first. If it’s still slow, our slow laptop guide covers the next steps, including hardware upgrades.