Where is the location of the Startup Folder in Windows 10?

Startup Folder plays a vital role in Windows 10, and it helps to start the program automatically when Windows boots. If you want to see which programs or apps start with Windows, you need to access Windows 10’s startup folder. You can add any program to the Startup folder or remove an existing application from the Startup folder without any third-party tool.

What is the Startup folder?

The Startup folder is a system folder in Windows 10 containing all the shortcuts of applications that load with Windows 10. In other words, the startup folder is a special folder that contains shortcuts of programs or apps that automatically start with Windows 10. Whenever you boot your Windows, startup apps will start with Windows.

To view the startup folder in Windows 10, navigate to the following path:-

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

In the above path, replace the UserName with your account name. For instance, your login account name in Windows 10 is gearupwindows, your path will be the following:-

C:\Users\gearupwindows\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Gentle Reminder:- In my case, we have installed Windows 10 on the “C” drive; if you have installed your Windows 10 on any other driver like “D” or “E,” replace the path accordingly. If you have installed Windows 10 on “D” drive, then your path will be the following:-

D:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Moreover, not all available programs on your computer that loads with Windows 10 will show up in the Startup folder; programs or apps that are built-in with Windows 10 might not show up in the Startup folder. To see all programs and apps that load with Windows 10, navigate to Settings > Apps > Startup.

Here, you can toggle On next to any app to start the application with Windows 10 boot, or you can toggle Off to disable the start with the boot.

How to open the Startup folder in Windows 10?

Step 1. Press and hold the Windows logo key, and then press the R key from the keyboard to open the Run command box.

Step 2. In the Run command box that opens, type Shell:Startup and then hit the Enter key from the keyboard to open the Startup folder.

Please note that this Startup folder will only contain the startup programs or apps for the currently logged-in user.

Step 1. Open the File Explorer by pressing the Windows logo + E keys simultaneously.

Step 2. Click on the View tab and then check the checkbox “Hidden items.”

Step 3. Now, navigate the following path to see the Startup Folder and its items:-

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

In the above path, replace UserName with your current login username, and if your Windows 10 is installed other than the “C” drive, then change them accordingly.

In the path, the AppData system folder is hidden by default, so we need to show hidden folders as we did in step 2 above.