How to locate startup apps in Windows?

Question

I tried to stop specific apps from being automatically started on boot, I tried search it on:

Settings > Apps > Startup
shell:start menu
possible registry

C:\Users\ryuuzaki>reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
    SecurityHealth    REG_EXPAND_SZ    %windir%\system32\SecurityHealthSystray.exe
    Riot Vanguard    REG_SZ    "C:\Program Files\Riot Vanguard\vgtray.exe"
C:\Users\ryuuzaki>reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
    ASUS Smart Display Control    REG_SZ    "C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Display Control\ASUSSmartDisplayControl.exe"
C:\Users\ryuuzaki>dir "%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is F6A2-75DC
Directory of C:\Users\ryuuzaki\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
13/07/2024  22:51    <DIR>          .
21/12/2024  13:58    <DIR>          ..
               0 File(s)              0 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  1.322.878.337.024 bytes free
C:\Users\ryuuzaki>reg query  HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
    OneDrive    REG_SZ    "C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\OneDrive.exe" /background
    MicrosoftEdgeAutoLaunch_20FC30D426BA353D06DB6B994A55E12A    REG_SZ    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --no-startup-window --win-session-start
    Discord    REG_SZ    "C:\Users\ryuuzaki\AppData\Local\Discord\Update.exe" --processStart Discord.exe
    Steam    REG_SZ    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe" -silent
    RiotClient    REG_SZ    C:\Riot Games\Riot Client\RiotClientServices.exe --launch-background-mode
    GoogleDriveFS    REG_SZ    "C:\Program Files\Google\Drive File Stream\101.0.3.0\GoogleDriveFS.exe" --startup_mode

process explorer by sysinternals:

but I couldn't find it, the screenshot above show the autostart location is n/a but it's automatically started each time I boot into Windows, and I just curious where it is defined in my system

EDIT: thank you to whoever mark this post as duplicate, I'm sorry if my question already answered somewhere in this forum, I just didn't see it.

after looking at the linked post, I'm able to see it now using autoruns software (need run as admin because the process will not shown up if it run as regular user): turns out it located on task scheduler.

How to locate startup apps in Windows?

0 Answers0