To find out how to disable startup programs in Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, click the Startup tab, select the app you do not need, and click Disable. The same change is available in Windows 11 under Settings, Apps, Startup, where every entry has a toggle switch. It takes about a minute per batch of apps and nothing is uninstalled, so every change can be undone.
I have cleaned out startup lists on family machines and older office laptops so many times that the pattern is predictable. Most of the delay is not the programs you chose to install. It is the updater, the cloud sync client, the chat app, and the vendor utility that installed itself three updates ago.
This guide covers Windows 11 and Windows 10, the two methods that work on both, and the Startup folder fallback for the apps that never show up in a list at all. Updated for 2026.
Table of Contents
What You Need
Nothing to buy and nothing to install. Everything you need ships with Windows, and the same three routes work whether you are on the newest Windows 11 build, an older Windows 11 machine, or Windows 10.
- Windows 11 or Windows 10. The Settings route moved between the two versions, and I flag exactly where below.
- Your own account. You only need to turn off apps for yourself.
- Administrator rights for anything that touches all users, startup services, or the System Configuration startup tab. If a toggle is greyed out on a school or work PC, that is policy, not a bug.
Budget two minutes to scan the list and a restart to confirm. Disabling is reversible, so there is no point taking a backup of anything first. People often assume they are about to break their PC. You are not. Windows keeps the program installed; you are only removing the instruction to launch it when you sign in.
Step-by-Step: How to Disable Startup Programs in Windows
There are three routes, and they overlap. Settings and Task Manager show mostly the same list of apps, while the Startup folder catches the older shortcuts neither of them lists. Start with Settings or Task Manager, then use the folder method for whatever is left.
How to Disable Startup Apps in Windows 11 Settings
On Windows 11, open Settings with the Windows key plus I, then choose Apps from the left sidebar and select Startup. The page is called Startup apps and it lists every program set to launch when you sign in, newest entries near the top.
Click the toggle next to anything you do not want opening automatically. The switch flips to Off and the entry greys out, but the program stays installed and still opens when you launch it from the Start menu. The list is sorted by startup impact in most builds, so the heaviest hitters are usually already at the top of the column.
Some entries have a Startup delay setting, which means Windows waits a set number of seconds after sign-in before launching them. Raising the delay on an app you still want is often better than disabling it. There is also a Background apps permission further down that stops an app running in the background after you close it, which is separate from startup and saves memory on a slow machine.
On Windows 10 the same page lives at Settings, Apps, Startup, just without the rounded window frame. Older Windows 10 builds put it under Settings, Apps, Startup, on the left rather than the bottom of the list.
How you know it worked: sign out and back in, or restart, and watch for the app during the first seconds after your password. If it does not appear, the change took.
Disable Startup Programs with Task Manager
Task Manager is the faster route and the one most guides open with. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, then click Startup in the tab row. On Windows 11 the tab sits between Apps and Users. On Windows 10 the layout is different but the tab name is the same.
Each row shows the app name, the publisher, its Status, and a Startup impact column that rates the app as High, Medium, Low, or Not measured. Sort by that column by clicking the heading and the worst offenders come to the top. Right-click a row and choose Disable, or select several rows at once with Ctrl and click Disable once.
The Startup tab sometimes is not there at all. Task Manager opens in a compact view by mistake on some machines, and that view has no tabs. Click More details in the bottom left to expand it and the Startup tab appears. If you are on a managed work or school computer and cannot find it, group policy controls that view and you will need your IT department.
Task Manager shows a slightly different subset from the Settings page, which is why an app you disabled in one place sometimes looks enabled in the other. Both write to the same approval state, so if the app actually stops launching, you are done. If it does not, the app is re-registering itself or a scheduled task is bringing it back.
Remove Startup Programs from the Windows Startup Folder
Some older programs skip the startup list entirely and put a shortcut in the Startup folder instead. That is the method for anything installed years ago that never appears in Task Manager.
Press Windows key plus R to open the Run box, type shell:startup, and press Enter. That opens your per-user Startup folder, where anything you see launches at sign-in. To reach the machine-wide version used by all accounts, type shell:Common Startup instead.
Cut the shortcuts you do not want and paste them into a folder on your desktop rather than deleting them. That way you can put them back in one drag if an app turns out to need them. Changing a folder shortcut affects only that folder. To remove the app completely, uninstall it from Settings, Apps, Installed apps instead.
Moving a shortcut out of this folder is the cleanest fix for a program that re-adds itself, because most apps only check the folder once at install time and never look again.
Common Mistakes
Disabling a driver or a hardware utility. Audio, touchpad, printer, and graphics vendor entries look like normal apps but they are not. Turn one off and you lose sound or your touchpad stops working until you reinstall the driver. Leave anything whose publisher is the hardware maker alone.
Using Disable all in System Configuration. Press Windows key plus R, type msconfig, go to the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services, and only then consider unchecking third-party entries. Using Disable all without that tick stops services Windows needs, and the machine can come back with no network, no audio, or an unbootable state that needs Safe Mode to fix. Microsoft Q&A threads repeat this warning more than almost anything else on the topic.
Assuming disabling means uninstalling. The app is still on your machine. If the goal is disk space or a cleaner Start menu, uninstalling is the right move. If the goal is a faster boot, disabling is enough.
Expecting a big boot-time win from a small change. Removing two chat apps might save three seconds. If your PC is still slow after a restart, the delay is usually Windows Update running in the background, a mechanical drive, or a service rather than a startup app. Task Manager, Performance, System, shows the last boot duration so you can check whether anything actually changed.
Disabling for the wrong account. Changes made in Settings or Task Manager apply to your user account only. Startup entries in the all-users Startup folder and in System Configuration affect every account on the machine.
How to Restore a Disabled Startup Program
Restoring is the same gesture in reverse, so there is no recovery tool to learn. Go back to Settings, Apps, Startup and flip the toggle on, or open Task Manager, click the Startup tab, select the entry and click Enable.
If the entry has vanished from both lists, reinstalling the app usually brings its startup entry back. Anything you moved out of the Startup folder can be dragged straight back in, which is why moving beats deleting. Windows also stores the state of these switches in a registry key under CurrentVersion, Explorer, StartupApproved, which is how it remembers your choice between reboots and why an app that re-registers can override it.
Re-enable anything that produces an error message, refuses to sync, or stops a feature you rely on. I keep a mental note of what I turned off so I can put it back the moment something acts up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to disable all startup programs?
Yes, with exceptions. Turning off a startup app never uninstalls it and never damages Windows, so you can safely disable most third-party entries. Leave your antivirus, audio and touchpad drivers, hardware vendor utilities, Windows Update, and any sync or backup tool alone. Never use Disable all in System Configuration without first ticking Hide all Microsoft services.
What happens if I disable startup programs?
The program no longer launches when you sign in. It stays installed and opens normally when you click it. Anything the app was doing automatically, such as updating itself or syncing files in the background, also stops until you open it again. A shorter startup list usually means a faster sign-in and less memory in use once you are logged in.
Where are startup programs located in Windows 11?
In six main places. The Startup tab in Task Manager and the Apps, Startup page in Settings show the same modern apps as toggles. Older programs sit as shortcuts in the Startup folder, reached with shell:startup. Registry Run keys, scheduled tasks in Task Scheduler, and Windows services hold entries that no normal settings page lists.
How do I find hidden startup programs?
Most entries that never appear in Task Manager or Settings live in the Startup folder, the registry Run keys, or Task Scheduler. Open Autoruns from the Sysinternals tools, run it as administrator, and it lists every auto-start entry from all those locations at once with the file path for each. Right-click an entry there to disable it or to jump to the registry key that controls it.
Why does a startup app come back after I disable it?
The app re-registers itself, usually after an update, and that resets your choice. Check its own settings for a run at startup or launch on boot option, because disabling it there stops the re-registration. Scheduled tasks and registry Run keys can also bring it back. If the entry is gone from both lists, uninstalling and reinstalling the app rebuilds the startup entry cleanly.
How do I disable all startup programs at once?
In Task Manager, click the Startup tab header to select every row, then click Disable once. The Microsoft column cannot be disabled this way, which is a useful safeguard. On a managed work or school PC the toggle is usually locked by policy, and Settings will grey out too. Restore anything essential immediately rather than restoring all of it later.
Conclusion
Open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc, click Startup, and disable the third-party apps you never use at sign-in. Sort by startup impact so the heaviest ones surface first, then restart and check whether the change actually helped. If something stops working, put it back with Enable in the same place. That single round trip is the whole process, and nothing you do here is permanent.