1. Home
  2. Windows Tips
  3. Run uwp apps on startup on windows 10

How To Run UWP Apps On Startup On Windows 10

Some apps have a ‘run on startup’ option. Users have the choice to enable this option and the app will automatically  start when you boot your system. For apps that you routinely use, this is a pretty simple way to automate running them. Windows 10 desktop apps that do not have this option can be forced to run on startup by adding their shortcut to the Startup folder. The same works if you want to run UWP apps on startup. The only tricky part is creating a shortcut for the UWP app. After that, it’s more or less the same process as it is for desktop apps.

UWP Desktop Shortcut

There are two ways to create a desktop shortcut for a UWP app. The first works if you’ve added the app to the Apps list in the Start menu. Open the Start Menu and go to the Apps list. Look for the app you want to create a shortcut for. We went with Netflix. Drag & drop the app tile onto the desktop to create a shortcut.

Alternatively, open File Explorer and paste the following in the location bar.

shell:appsfolder

This will open a folder that lists all apps, UWP and Win32, that are installed on your system. Right-click the app and select the ‘Create shortcut’ option. You will see a prompt telling you that the shortcut cannot be created in the current location but it can be placed on the desktop instead. Accept it.

Add UWP To Startup Folder

Open File Explorer and paste the following in the location bar.

shell:startup

Copy the UWP app shortcut to the startup folder. That’s all you need to do. To remove the app, return to this same location and delete the shortcut from the Startup folder.

Limitations

The above method lets you run UWP apps on startup however, the apps that you forcefully add to the Startup folder using this method will not appear in the Startup tab in Task Manager. This means you have no way to determine how much of an impact an app on your system when it’s booting. It also means that you cannot get a real picture of how many apps run at startup from just the Task Manager. You’re going to have to go to the Startup folder to determine what other apps might also be running.

We should also caution you not to run too many apps on startup because it can slow you system down drastically. The slowdown might not be much if you have an SSD but even then you cannot add 20 or 30 apps and expect your system to boot up in seconds.

1 Comment