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How to Disable Startup Programs in Windows 11

Don’t want a program to start automatically at sign-in? Here is how to remove or disable startup apps in Windows 11.

Installing programs in Windows 11 is pretty straightforward. Double-click on the installer and follow the installation wizard. After installing, if the program thinks it needs to start with Windows, it will add itself to the startup list.

As you can tell from the name itself, any application added to the startup list will automatically start as soon as you sign into the user account. That way, you will have access to that application and its functionality from the start. You don’t have to launch it manually every time. For example, some of my favorite and most used applications, like ShareX, FastKeys, OneDrive, etc., are on the startup list. That means I can start using them as soon as I sign in.

That being said, the Windows 11 startup list might also contain apps and programs that you don’t need. The problem is that the more programs are on the startup list, the longer the startup time.

For that reason, it is often a good idea to remove unnecessary programs from the Windows 11 startup list. For example, though I use Cloudflare Wrap regularly, there is no need for it to start with Windows. So, I disabled that startup program and launched it manually when needed. You can do that too.

The good thing is, you can remove or disable startup programs in Windows 11 with just a few clicks from the Settings app or Task Manager. You have to find the program in the startup list and disable it.

So, without much delay, let me show you how to disable startup programs in Windows 11.

Table of contents:

Disable startup programs in Task Manager in Windows 11

You can manage all startup programs from the Task Manager for a long time now. In fact, there is a dedicated tab to enable or disable startup programs. Here is how to do it.

  1. Right-click the Start menu.
  2. Choose the “Task Manager” option.
  3. Click on the “Startup” tab.
  4. Select the program you want to disable.
  5. Click the “Disable” button.
  6. Close the Task Manager.
  7. With that, you have disabled a startup program in Windows 11.

Same steps with screenshots:

We need to open the Task Manager. You can do that in many different ways. For instance, right-click on the Start menu and select “Task Manager.” You can also search for the same in the Start menu.

In the Task Manager, go to the “Startup” tab. As you can tell from the tab name, this is where you will see all the programs that start with Windows. Select the program you want to stop running at startup and click the “Disable” button.

open task manager

As soon as you click the button, the program or app is disabled from running at system startup. From now on, the program will not start automatically.

disable startup programs in Windows 11

You can now close the Task Manager.

Disable Startup programs in Windows 11 Settings

In Windows 11, you can manage startup programs from the Settings app. That means you can enable or disable startup apps in Windows 11 via the Settings app. Here is how to do it.

  1. Use the “Windows key + I” shortcut.
  2. Select “Apps” on the sidebar.
  3. Click on the “Startup” option on the main panel.
  4. Find the app you want to disable.
  5. Turn off the app to disable it.
  6. Close the Settings app.
  7. With that, you have disabled a startup program via Settings.
disable startup programs in Windows 11 via settings

That is it. It is that simple to disable startup programs in Windows 11.

I hope this simple and straightforward Windows 11 how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.

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