Got a minute to spare? Let’s add
some pep to your Windows PC
by preventing it from launching
unnecessary apps at startup.
Slimming down your startup process will
of course lead to faster boot times, but it can
also help unclutter your taskbar or menu bar,
while also freeing up processing power from
programs you seldom use.
You don’t even need expensive system
cleaner apps for this brief bit of PC
maintenance. All it takes is a quick trip to your
Windows settings menu, where you can
decide which apps to launch straight away.
Here’s how to disable startup apps:
• In either Windows 10 or 11, click the
Start menu and select the Settings icon.

WHICH STARTUP APPS
SHOULD YOU DISABLE?
If you need help deciding which apps to
disable, look for the ones that don’t need
to run in the background at all times. Ones
that are labeled High Impact are especially
strong candidates for disabling, as they’re
most likely to slow down
your PC at startup.
In my case, I’ve disabled
Slack, Microsoft Edge, and
Logitech’s Options software,
none of which I care about
running as soon as my PC
boots up. (This does mean I
won’t get any Slack desktop
notifications until I actually
launch the app, but that’s
OK. Slack’s mobile app will still notify me of
anything important.) Even if a program
doesn’t register as High Impact, you can
still disable it if you don’t need it to run
right away.
Conversely, I’ve allowed certain apps to
continue to run at startup because they
need to be running in the background at all
times. For instance, I use AutoDarkMode
(fave.co/3c3481m) to switch between
Windows light and dark themes
automatically, f.lux (fave.co/3UvE0h5) to
adjust screen tone, and Beeftext (fave.
co/3qXq6Xu) for text shortcuts. I want
those programs to be available
immediately, and therefore I have left them
enabled regardless of what performance
impact they may have.
None of these options is permanent,
of course. If you ever want to change an
app’s startup behavior, just head back to
Settings > Apps > Startup and toggle it on
or off again.

• Head to Apps > Startup.