If your computer used to boot in seconds and now takes minutes before it's actually usable, the culprit is almost always a long list of programs quietly launching themselves the moment you log in. Each one seems harmless on its own, but stacked together they compete for CPU, memory and disk access at exactly the moment your PC is trying to get you to a usable desktop. This guide shows you how to find every app set to launch at startup, decide what's safe to disable, and get your boot time back under control.

Why Startup Apps Slow Down Boot Time

Every time you install a new application, there's a good chance it quietly adds itself to your startup list — cloud storage clients, chat apps, printer utilities, game launchers and creative software are some of the worst offenders. Many of these apps have no real reason to launch automatically; they do it purely for convenience or to nudge you toward using them more. On a mechanical hard drive especially, having a dozen programs all trying to read from disk simultaneously at boot can turn a 20-second startup into a two-minute one.

It's also worth distinguishing between two related things that often get confused:

  • Startup apps — programs that launch fully when you log in.
  • Background services — smaller processes that may run continuously even after login, consuming RAM and CPU without a visible window.

Both matter for overall performance, but this guide focuses primarily on what you can control directly through your operating system's built-in tools.

Managing Startup Apps on Windows

Using Task Manager (Fastest Method)

  1. Right-click the Taskbar and choose Task Manager, or press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
  2. Click the Startup apps tab (in older Windows 10 builds this may be labelled "Startup").
  3. You'll see every app registered to launch at login, along with a Startup impact column rated Low, Medium or High.
  4. Right-click any app you don't need immediately at login and select Disable.

The Startup impact rating is the most useful column here — it's Windows' own measurement of how much that app slows down your boot process, based on CPU and disk usage during startup.

Pro tip: Don't disable everything indiscriminately. Your antivirus software, graphics driver utility (like NVIDIA or AMD's control panel background service), and audio driver components should generally stay enabled, as they're either lightweight or important for stability.

Using Settings

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Startup.
  2. This shows the same list as Task Manager but with toggle switches, which some people find easier to use.
  3. Flip any unwanted app's switch to Off.

Finding Startup Items Settings Doesn't Show

Not every startup program shows up in Task Manager or Settings — some register themselves through the Windows Registry, Task Scheduler, or as services rather than standard startup entries.

  1. Press Windows key + R, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter to open Task Scheduler.
  2. Look through the Task Scheduler Library for tasks set to trigger "At log on" or "At startup" — software installers sometimes hide update-checkers here.
  3. For services, press Windows key + R, type services.msc, and review anything set to Automatic that you don't recognise — though be cautious, as disabling the wrong Windows service can cause instability. Stick to disabling third-party services you clearly recognise (like a printer manufacturer's update checker).

Dealing With Browser and Cloud App Auto-Launch

Some of the worst offenders manage their own startup settings independently of Windows:

  • Browsers (Chrome, Edge) often have a "continue running background apps when browser is closed" setting under their own Settings menu — worth disabling if you don't need it.
  • OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive all have their own startup toggle inside their app preferences, separate from Task Manager.

Managing Startup Apps on macOS

Using System Settings (Modern Method)

  1. Open the Apple menu > System Settings.
  2. Go to General > Login Items & Extensions.
  3. Under "Open at Login", you'll see every app configured to launch automatically.
  4. Select any you don't want and click the minus (–) button to remove it.
  5. Further down, the Allow in the Background section lists apps and extensions permitted to run background processes even when not actively open — disable ones you don't recognise or don't need.

Using Login Items in Older macOS Versions

On macOS Ventura and earlier, this same functionality lives under System Preferences > Users & Groups > [your user] > Login Items, with a similar plus/minus list.

Finding Hidden Launch Agents

Power users can go a step further, since some background helpers install themselves as Launch Agents rather than standard login items.

  1. Open Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G, and go to ~/Library/LaunchAgents.
  2. Also check /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons (system-wide, requires admin access).
  3. These folders contain .plist files controlling background processes. If you find one clearly tied to software you've uninstalled, it's generally safe to move it to the Trash — but if you're unsure what a file does, it's safer to leave it alone or search its exact filename online before removing it.

Warning: Editing or deleting Launch Agents you don't recognise carries some risk of breaking legitimate system or app functionality. This is an advanced step — most people get all the benefit they need from the standard Login Items list.

Measuring the Improvement

It's worth confirming your changes actually helped:

  • Windows: Task Manager's Startup apps tab shows a "Last BIOS time" figure in some builds, but a simpler test is timing from pressing the power button to a fully responsive desktop with a stopwatch, before and after.
  • Mac: Hold down the Shift key during boot to start in Safe Mode, which disables non-essential startup items entirely — comparing that boot time to a normal boot gives you a rough sense of how much startup items are costing you (though don't leave it in Safe Mode for daily use).

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Disabling antivirus or security software at startup — this leaves you unprotected from the moment you log in and is rarely worth the small time saving.
  • Disabling graphics or audio driver components — these are often lightweight and important for hardware to initialise correctly.
  • Assuming more disabled = better — a handful of essential background apps (VPN clients, password managers you use daily) are usually worth the small startup cost for the convenience.

Closing Thoughts

Trimming your startup list is one of the highest-value, lowest-risk tweaks you can make to a sluggish PC or Mac, and it takes less than ten minutes once you know where to look. Re-check your startup list every few months, since new software installs have a habit of quietly re-adding themselves. If boot times are still poor after a thorough clean-up, the next things to investigate are whether you're running on a traditional hard drive rather than an SSD, and whether your system has enough RAM for what you're asking it to do — both covered in our other performance guides.

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