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Occasionally, a forced restart is happening on my Windows 10 computer. When the OS is restarted every program that I've had prior to the restart is reopened at startup. The programs are reopened like I would just double-click them.

I usually hold 5-6 windows of Visual Studio and few more programs all together. When the above happens, I have to wait several minutes until I can start working, as everything takes ages to load.

Is there a setting to disable these programs from automatically opening at startup?

Run5k
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johni
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  • To disable it outright? Not sure. Pretty sure my system doesn't do this. If you are part of a domain it might be a domain policy set by the network admin. One thing you *can* try is holding shift while Windows logs in. I'm not 100% sure this is still a feature under Windows 10 but as recently as Windows 7 holding shift during login would stop anything from running automatically beyond the explorer interface (start menu, task bar and such) and system services. – Cliff Armstrong Jul 14 '17 at 18:56
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    This is a new thing, and it is happening to me. I am not on a domain and do not have the Creators Update. What is surprising is that there is little information about it online. You can read about it a bit here: http://windowsreport.com/restore-apps-pc-reboot/ What's strange is that I cannot find the settings to turn it on or off as that article describes. – jdgregson Aug 09 '17 at 19:22
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    I'd love a way to disable this new behavior. When my pc restarts I want a nice clean slate and not 20 programs trying to open – mejobloggs Aug 10 '17 at 09:46
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    This issue may be more prevelant in the fall creator's update. See parallyze's answer for source. see clickbangdead's answer for a potential fix that doesn't require manually calling shutdown yourself – Johannes Nov 03 '17 at 04:40
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    How is this not regarded as a major security flaw? If I turn off my PC with, for example, a YouTube video open then somebody else can turn it back on and listen to what I was watching without knowing my account password because the video starts playing as soon as windows boots. – Ubiquitous Feb 10 '18 at 09:07
  • As @Ubiquitous mentions, one of the scariest things about this is that it re-opens the programs before you even log in! – MiniGod Feb 24 '18 at 20:20
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    Another stupid decision by Microsoft. It defeats a large part of the purpose of restarting a Widows machine - to close running apps, stop rogue processes, and generally return to a known good state. – Reversed Engineer Mar 13 '18 at 06:42
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    @johni have you had an opportunity to try any of the proposed solutions? I'm sure that your schedule is very busy, but this question now has more than 95k views and it would really be nice if the original author provided us with some feedback. Thanks for your help! – Run5k Jun 03 '18 at 15:53
  • They created the worst problem in 20 years with these forced updates/restarts, then tried to solve it with another problem which restarts *some* of your apps, but the worst, by far, is when it tries to restart like 12 visual studio instances and locks the machine for 10 minutes. You gotta disable every service, task, and setting involving Windows Update to get rid of this issue, and it's terrible. We just took tens of thousands of dollars away from the Azure platform to AWS over this. – Triynko Aug 28 '18 at 16:06
  • I agree, this behavior is so inconvenient, I rather have a clean system after reboot. – Soerendip Feb 17 '19 at 19:46
  • Oh god I want to turn this feature on, what can I do? My computer never reopen programs after reboot and I have to open them by many clicks. – swen Mar 15 '19 at 02:01

7 Answers7

187

Good news! It has been somewhat "fixed."

I was interested in clickbangdead's solution, but unfortunately I could not make it work no matter what I tried. Then I went back to the Microsoft Answers thread where he originally posted his solution, because maybe someone could have found a new solution in the subsequent pages. And voilà, indeed. Navigate to the following location:

Settings > Accounts > Sign-In Options

Scroll down to Privacy on the right and then set the following to Off:

Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart.

Privacy Settings

I was skeptical, because that doesn't seem like it has much to do with reopening my Google Chrome upon restart, but I tested and it (finally) works!

Update: with the release of Windows 10 version 1803 (the April 2018 Update), Microsoft modified the wording within that Privacy option to emphasize that it will "reopen my apps" if it is configured to be On.

Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device and reopen my apps after an update or restart.

Disable Reopen My Apps

Run5k
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Vinícius M
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    This works well on version **1709**, build **16299.248**. – Mihai Feb 21 '18 at 23:21
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    Great find thanks. This should be the accepted answer. – Aidan Mar 03 '18 at 11:33
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    But what are the side effects? – Ray Mar 14 '18 at 19:33
  • @Ray The main side effect is you may occasionally find your PC completing Windows Updates installations after you start your PC, which can delay you getting on with an activity. – Chris Mar 14 '18 at 20:17
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    Doesn't work in Version 1709 Build 16299.192. – MrObjectOriented Apr 07 '18 at 04:14
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    yeah this seems to have stopped working on the most recent version – Wolter May 08 '18 at 19:18
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    I don't have this setting even though I'm fully up-to-date. I think it's because I'm on Enterprise? Anyone know how to disable the setting on Enterprise? – mejobloggs Jun 13 '18 at 21:03
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    Absolutely no effect in Windows 10 Pro 1803. It opens 3 Instances of visual studio automatically on restart after an update but not as administrator. I then need to wait for them to open, close them and then reopen them as administrator. Utter BS Microsoft! – Ash Jun 21 '18 at 00:46
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    I'm using this Win10 version 1803 and I don't see this option under the `Show account details (e.g. email address) on sign-in screen` Any idea? – johni Jul 04 '18 at 15:53
  • Ash and @johni, unfortunately I couldn't replicate your issues to try and figure it out. I'm on Version 1803 same as you (Build 17134.122) as of right now, ('cmd -> winver') and I still have the above option just fine, and it is still working just fine. Perhaps if you could try and give more information about your current setup? Is it a fresh install? Or maybe take a look on the aforementioned Microsoft Answers thread? You could find something new. I'd wish to help but with that little information there isn't much for me to go on troubleshooting. =/ – Vinícius M Jul 04 '18 at 18:13
  • You could also try this: https://superuser.com/a/1264531/445871 – Vinícius M Jul 04 '18 at 18:33
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    @johni is your machine using Windows 10 Enterprise on a domain? If so, you won't see those areas that I highlighted within each screenshot. I see the [same thing that you do](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nLkf1.jpg) when I'm at work. As a result, you would need to utilize a different method such as [the answer that Ytoledano posted](https://superuser.com/a/1291378/650163). – Run5k Sep 07 '18 at 18:19
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    I've just tested this workaround and it has worked fine: Windows 10 Pro, Version **1809** (OS Build **17763.55**), standalone machine not joined to a domain; not a clean install, OS was updated from 1803. – Wayfarer Nov 02 '18 at 21:03
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    Is there a proper solution to automate this setting, either through an registry setting or GPO, or something with Powershell? – MegaCookie Dec 16 '18 at 13:29
  • Where can this option be found in Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB? – Fopedush Jan 04 '19 at 18:47
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    @Fopedush According to [Run5k's comment](https://superuser.com/questions/1229963/windows-10-disable-reopening-programs-after-restart-startup/1296139?noredirect=1#comment2035613_1296139), that option is unavailable in Windows 10 Enterprise or Domain. I would suggest you check on the Microsoft thread to see if there's any solution for that (maybe in Group Policies?), and perhaps raise a new thread if you can't find anything.. =/ – Vinícius M Jan 07 '19 at 10:38
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    This option doesn't seem to exist anymore with build 1903. – Ahatius Jul 06 '19 at 13:03
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    @Ahatius This option is still there in 20H2 but the wording was changed by removing "...and reopen my apps after an update or restart." *But the help article via "Learn more" still lists it!* – Casey Mar 13 '21 at 21:02
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From: Stop Auto Reopen of Programs after Restart in Windows 10

This is a new "feature" in Fall Creators Update. To prevent apps from being reopened after reboot, don't use the Start > Shutdown button. Instead, use the shutdown.exe command-line.

shutdown.exe /s /t 0

To restart, use this command-line or shortcut:

shutdown.exe /r /t 0
w32sh
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    As someone that likes the convenience of Start > Shutdown, I'd prefer a solution that doesn't require me to make a shortcut or manually run shutdown. – Johannes Nov 03 '17 at 04:38
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    I added it to the Start menu like so: Put the shutdown command above in a file named `shutdown-now.cmd` (or whatever you want), created a shortcut to it, and moved it to the shell:programs folder ([more on `shell` commands](https://superuser.com/questions/673960/shell-shortcuts-in-windows-os)). Next I right-clicked it in the Start menu and chose _Pin to Start_. For bonus points, right-click on the shortcut in Explorer, choose Properties, Change Icon..., and pick something you like. – User5910 Jan 29 '18 at 04:19
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    As of February 2018, there is a 'fix' that doesn't require you to workaround your default shutdown behavior. It i's explained in the answers down below, it is a simple setting switch to turn off. – Vinícius M Mar 04 '18 at 13:37
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    What about when your PC auto restarts over night though? My issue is coming back to work in the morning, finding my pc has restarted, then trying to deal with it opening 30 programs that each pop up error screens because they can't connect to server, or load projects etc. – mejobloggs May 09 '18 at 20:27
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    LOL! And what if it's just an auto-restart after update every Wednesday, that just loads my browser with most recently played (and paused) youtube video, and plays it on my loudspeaker in the middle of the night? – tishma Jan 10 '19 at 00:08
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Sadly this (privacy settings/use my sign-in info...) doesn't work (at least for me on four machines). It seems like this always happens when you reboot:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_desktop/programs-autostart-after-boot-in-windows-10/09dd8d3e-7b36-45d1-9181-6587dd5d53ab?page=2

quote from a MS Support Engineer over there:

Old behavior:

  • When you shut down your PC, all apps are closed

  • After reboot/restart, you have to re-open any app you'd like to use

New behavior:

  • When shutting down your PC, any open apps are "bookmarked" (for lack of a better word)
  • After reboot/restart, these apps will re-open automatically

If you want to start with no apps open (other than those set to auto-start via Task Manager/Start), you'll need to ensure all apps are closed before shutting down or restarting the PC.

Wish they had included this for "installation/updates require a restart" only. Didn't find any GPOs so far or any way to turn it off.

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parallyze
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    MS makes some boneheaded decisions. I see the usefulness, if it were optional. –  Nov 16 '17 at 19:41
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    Seriously? I need to close all apps when I don't want to pop them up again after rebooting? I mean I'm fine with this new default behaviour... but why is there no option :( Maybe there is a way to run scripts before shutdown or reboot, to close all active processes... – Armin Dec 01 '17 at 19:41
  • The worst part is it doesn't even work entirely as described - a good number of apps if left open won't be re-opened at all. – Jeff Dalley Jan 04 '18 at 14:51
  • @JeffDalley: Complain to the developers of these apps. An application needs to use and register to these new feature. how else would it work? The App needs to perform some cleanup work when the computer is shutting down (saving unsaved changes for example and remember which document was opened), so it can restore these after reboot – Tseng Feb 26 '18 at 08:40
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    I always make sure that I closed everything before shutdown. But sometimes it still tries to open some apps after reboot – notacat Mar 28 '18 at 14:22
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    It sucks especially since the laptop may decide to reboot randomly during its sleep, and if you happened to have a chrome tab with youtube open, it'll just autoplay it. This waked me up in the middle of the night several times already in the past year. – Dan M. Jun 23 '19 at 00:47
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The fastest way to reboot without reopening apps I found is: click anywhere on the desktop (or Winkey-D) and then alt-F4 and choose "restart".

ytoledano
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While the setting at Accounts > Sign-in options > "Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device and reopen my apps after an update or restart" works on some of my devices (1803 and 1809), it was hit and miss. This registry change, however, has been 100% effective at disabling this unwanted feature.

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /v DisableAutomaticRestartSignOn /t reg_dword /d 1 /f
shawn
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I posted this to the MS thread: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_perf-insiderplat_pc/programs-autostart-after-boot-in-windows-10-fall/09dd8d3e-7b36-45d1-9181-6587dd5d53ab?messageId=552051d1-b7e5-4709-826a-cce7d243086a

I'll post here too: here is a more friendly solution for someone that doesn't want to have to keep shutting down unwanted apps:

Create a batch file with the following command line:

for /f "tokens=1-3,*" %%a in ('reg query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce /v "Application Restart*" ^| findstr "Application Restart"') do reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce /v "%%a %%b %%c" /f

Place this somewhere on the drive that the user would have read rights too.

In gpedit.msc, then under User Configuration → Windows Settings → Scripts add the script as a logoff script.

randers
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clickbangdead
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    It is pretty common for applications to schedule automatic updates using `RunOnce`. Will this script prevent such applications from updating, or is it specific to only the apps that were open on shutdown and restart only due to this new 'feature'? – Johannes Nov 08 '17 at 05:28
  • I've tested this batch file approach and can confirm that - as far as I can tell so far - it works as described and is specific to the apps there were open on shutdown. Nice work, thank you. – zippy72 Dec 13 '17 at 10:42
  • clickbangdead, I believe this was an elegant and beautiful solution to the problem, but apparently it no longer works on . However, using the very same link to the MS thread you provided, a now-working solution can be found on the last pages. I didn't have enough rep to comment at the time, so I posted a solution down below, like an addendum. – Vinícius M Mar 04 '18 at 13:39
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I just denied all "write" permission for myself to the registry key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce.

Works for me.

Edit: This also might be helpfull

dummy
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    This worked for me (y) – Arbitur Oct 20 '18 at 20:53
  • Though because of this I get error while installing Python... – Arbitur Dec 16 '18 at 22:58
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    Unfortunately this does not work (Win10 Enterprise LTSB). Even with write permissions for that key revoked, applications still restart when the machine is rebooted automatically. – Fopedush Dec 21 '18 at 04:39
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    We always appreciate the contributions from our community members, but please [do not provide answers that are only a hyperlink](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/8231). While the information may be valuable, if the source web page ever goes offline the answer is essentially useless. Quote all of the pertinent excerpts from the article within your answer, then you can still provide the hyperlink to cite your source. Please see the following article from our Help Center: [How do I write a good answer?](https://superuser.com/help/how-to-answer) Thanks for your help! – Run5k Jan 18 '19 at 11:38
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    This will break a lot of things like uninstallers and updaters that rely on RunOne – PeterFnet Feb 06 '20 at 16:20