Startup folder location on Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 2012 Server

Triangolo giallo sull'icona Rete di Windows: cosa significa e come eliminarlo

Do you remember the Startup folder, where users and administrators - and also malware and other malicious software - could put shortcuts in order to execute certain programs on system startup? Since Windows 8 - with the Start menu gone for good - that folder was quickly forgotten in favor of more robust, service-based approaches, to the point it was nearly forgotten.

Despite all this, the folder is still there, up and "running": it's just that the new GUI is designed in a way that prevents us to accidentally stumble upon it like we were used to. Here are its upated filesystem paths.

Startup folder for a given user only

The shortcuts and programs placed in this folder will be executed right after the current (or a specific) user's login phase.

Which usually corresponds to:

Startup folder for all users

The shortcuts and programs placed in this folder will be executed right after the login phase of any user, including Guest.

Which usually corresponds to:

Now you know where to place a shortcut for your favourite software... and also where to look for malware files.

 

About Ryan

IT Project Manager, Web Interface Architect and Lead Developer for many high-traffic web sites & services hosted in Italy and Europe. Since 2010 it's also a lead designer for many App and games for Android, iOS and Windows Phone mobile devices for a number of italian companies. Microsoft MVP for Development Technologies since 2018.

View all posts by Ryan

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