List of Startup Paths, Folders and Registry Settings in Windows 10

Windows holds a lot of places where a program can be placed so that it will launch as soon as you logon to the computer. If you want to access the applications which are in these Startup programs, it is an alternative way. You can also utilize these paths in applications or any custom change you plan to make in Windows 10.

Here is a list of Windows Startup Paths, Folders, and Registry Settings for applications and programs when they are launched at Startup. This will help you manage or disable startup programs.

Windows Startup Paths, Folders & Registry Settings

You can access them in two places—

• Startup folders and
• Registry Settings.

Do remember that before making any changes to the registry, always make sure to take a backup or create a system restore point.

1]  Startup folders

First, enable show hidden files option and then navigate to any of the following paths and Add shortcuts of the programs to be run at startup.

C:Users[USERNAME]AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup
C:UsersAllUsersAppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup

You can quickly open the startup folder by typing shell:startup in the Run prompt, followed by pressing the Enter key.

2] Registry Settings

Navigate to any of the following paths according to your requirement and then add a new “String key” and store path of the Program to be run in this key’s value.

For Local Machine:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce

For Current User

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce

Other Paths

HKUProgIDSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
<systemdrive>Documents and SettingsAll UsersStart MenuProgramsStartup
<systemdrive>Documents and SettingsusernameStart MenuProgramsStartup

Some of these folders are hidden while others need you to add user account access by changing folder permissions.

3] Programs to run at logon time or when Explorer runs

Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsNTCurrentVersionWinLogon

Add the path of your program to be run as follows:

• Via Shell String as by editing value of key Shell as:

explorer.exe, <path of your program with extension .exe>

• Via Userinit String as by editing value of key Userinit as:

C:WindowsSystem32,<path of Your program with extension .exe>

This technique lets you add programs that you can directly run from the Run prompt (Win + R) or when you log in to Windows.

I hope the post was informative, and you now know  Windows Startup Paths, Folders, and Registry Settings.