Last updated on October 17th, 2019
In Windows operating systems, the ‘Startup’ folder is the location that contains all programs that start with Windows. So, the startup folder can be used to specify which programs are allowed to start as soon as Windows starts.
This tutorial contains two different ways to find and view the contents of the Windows 10 Startup Folders.
How to Navigate to Startup folders in Windows 10/8/7 OS.
Method 1. View Startup Folders with Windows Explorer.
Method 2. Navigate to Windows Startup Folders by using a command.
Method 1. Find Windows 10 Startup Folders with Windows Explorer.
In Windows 10, 8 or 7 OS, there are actually two (2) different Startup folders, which are located at the below locations on the disk: *
* Note: You must enable hidden files view first, in order to view the folders.
- C:ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup
- C:Users%Username%AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup
The first Startup folder contains all the applications that are started for All Accounts, and the second Startup folder contains all the applications that are started for the specific account.
Examples:
a. If you want to start the ‘Notepad’ application with Windows for the all users on the computer, then you have to place a shortcut of “Notepad.exe” application at the following startup folder.
- C:ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup
b. Additionally, if you want to start ‘Notepad’ only when a specific user (e.g. the user “John”), logins in the computer, then you have to place a shortcut of “Notepad.exe” application at the following startup folder:
- C:UsersJohnAppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup
Method 2. Navigate to Windows Startup Folders by using a command.
A different, but more easy way to access the startup folder(s) in Windows, is the following:
1. Simultaneously press the Win + R keys to open the run command box.
a. If you want to access the All Accounts startup folder, which contains the programs that starts at Windows startup for every user who uses the PC, type the following command and click OK:
- shell:common startup
b. If you want to access the startup folder containing all the programs that start when the current user logs on to Windows, type the following command and click OK:
- shell:startup
That’s it!
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