Shortcuts to programs that automatically start along with your computer (when you boot the PC) are located in the Startup Folder. You will find below the steps to access Startup Folder Location in Windows 10.
Startup Folder Location in Windows 10
In the older versions of Windows, the Startup Folder could be readily accessed using the Start Menu.
This allowed the Users to place shortcuts to their favourite programs in the Startup Folder, which made these programs to startup along with the computer and become available for use, as soon as Users were logged into the computer.
In Windows 10, Microsoft does not provide end-user access to the Startup Folder, but the Startup Folder is still available and it can be used to make your preferred programs startup automatically, as soon as you login to the computer.
Two Startup Folder Locations in Windows 10
Before going ahead with the steps to access Startup Folder in Windows 10, it is important to note that there are actually two Startup Folders in Windows 10.
The first Startup Folder is located at System Level and it applies to all User Accounts on the computer, while the second Startup Folder is located at User Level and it applies to User Accounts on the computer.
Windows operating system makes use of both System and User Level Startup Folders, in order to determine which applications need to start when a particular User logs into the computer.
For example, in a Windows PC with two User Accounts, shortcuts for common applications like Microsoft Edge browser will be placed in the System Level Startup Folder, while shortcuts for applications used by individual users will be placed in User Level Startup Folder.
With this understanding, let us go ahead and take a look at how to access both System Level and User Level Startup Folders in Windows 10.
1. Open System Level Startup Folder in Windows 10
As mentioned above, the System Level startup Folder is applicable for All the User Accounts on the computer and it is located at the following path:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
To access the Common or System Level Startup Folder, right-click on the Start button and click on Run in the Win-X menu.
On the Run Command window, type shell:common startup and hit the Enter key on the keyboard of your computer.
Alternatively, you can press the WinKey, type shell:common startup and hit the Enter key.
2. Open User Level Startup Folder in Windows 10
The Startup Folder for Logged in Users is located at the following path.
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
To access User Level Startup Folder, right-click on the Start button and click on Run in the menu that appears.
On the Run command window, type shell:startup and hit the Enter Key on the keyboard of your computer.
Alternatively, you can press the WinKey, type shell:startup and hit the Enter key.
Now, that you know the method to access Startup Folder in Windows 10, you can make your favourite programs startup along with your computer by placing shortcuts to these programs in the User Level Startup Folder.