How to change startup programs in Windows 10

[JamieKavanagh]

Windows boot time is influenced heavily not just by your hardware but also by the programs that are set to load at boot. Unfortunately, most third-party programs think they deserve to be loaded at boot even if they are really not needed. If you want to speed things up, here is how to change startup programs in Windows 10.

Windows 10 boot time is better than ever. Gradually Windows has gone from booting up within a couple of minutes (Windows XP after a while) to booting up in seconds. However, you may find that the more you use your computer, the slower boot time gets. Removing startup programs is an excellent way to reduce that time.

Change startup programs in Windows 10
Many programs have an annoying habit of adding themselves to startup even when you’re only likely to use them occasionally. Stop them booting alongside Windows like this:

1. Right click on the Windows 10 taskbar and select Task Manager.
2. Select the Startup tab and click Status to sort them into enabled or disabled.
3. Right click on a program you don’t want to start at every boot and select Disable.
4. Repeat for all programs not required during boot.

If you decide later that you want a program to load, simple repeat the above process and select ‘Enable’ instead of Disable.

Disabling programs from loading at startup does not impact their use in any way. You can still double click their icon or start them using menus or Explorer. It merely stops them loading their services automatically with Windows.

Some programs you really don’t want to disable including third-party firewalls, anti-virus and malware scanners. Everything else is optional.

Tune Windows 10 to your liking with these tutorials:
How to enable support for legacy file shares
How to change owner of file, folder, drive, or registry key in Windows 10
How to run the SFC Command at boot in Windows 10

View all of our Windows 10 Tutorials