Startup Manager

Full visibility and control over every Windows auto-start entry in one place. Toggles use the same StartupApproved binary registry value that Task Manager writes, so every change is fully reversible and visible in Task Manager too.

Detected sources

Run keys (Registry)

Classic auto-start entries written to the Windows registry. Scanned in all three locations covering both 64-bit and 32-bit programs.

HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Startup folders

Shortcuts and executables placed in the per-user or all-users Startup folder. Run when the user logs in.

shell:startup (per-user) and shell:common startup (all-users)

AppX UWP startup tasks

Modern Microsoft Store and UWP apps that declare a startup extension in their manifest — Claude, Windows Terminal, WhatsApp, Xbox Game Bar, etc. Detection parses every installed package's AppxManifest.xml for any <Extension Category="windows.startupTask"> in any namespace (uap5, desktop, …).

AppxManifest.xml of every installed package; default enable state from the manifest's Enabled attribute, override from HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\StartupTask\<PackageFamilyName>\<TaskId>

Scheduled tasks (Logon / Boot)

Tasks scheduled to run at user logon or system boot — browser updaters, vendor maintenance tools, etc. System tasks under \Microsoft\Windows\* are intentionally excluded to avoid breaking Windows internals.

Get-ScheduledTask with LogonTrigger or BootTrigger, outside \Microsoft\Windows\*

Toggle behavior

  • Run keys and Startup folders: enable/disable writes the StartupApproved binary value (byte 0x02 = enabled, 0x03 = disabled) — the exact same bytes Task Manager writes.
  • AppX UWP tasks: writes StartupApproved\StartupTask\<PackageFamilyName>\<TaskId> with the same binary scheme; the manifest entry is never modified.
  • Scheduled tasks: toggled via Enable-ScheduledTask / Disable-ScheduledTask.
  • No entry is ever moved or deleted — only its enabled state is flipped. Re-enabling restores the exact original behavior.