---
title: "Finding the startup folder on Windows operating systems"
slug: "finding-the-startup-folder-on-windows-operating-systems"
updated: 2024-12-17T06:05:56Z
published: 2024-12-17T06:05:56Z
canonical: "docs.telosalliance.com/finding-the-startup-folder-on-windows-operating-systems"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.telosalliance.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Finding the startup folder on Windows operating systems

## Scope

This document covers how to find the start-up folder in certain Windows operating systems.

## Description

Back in the Windows XP and Windows 7 days, it used to be fairly easy to put things into the startup folder. In a more modern operating system, this folder is much harder to find and can vary from version to version. Some software programs have an option to "start automatically" but some you might need to add manually.

Here are a couple of simple steps to find the Startup folder for the **current** user and also the common start-up folder for **all** users.

## To find the USER startup folder.

1. Right Click on the start menu and choose run

![](https://cdn.document360.io/57e3cd80-d493-453c-9672-ad1b043dadc3/Images/Documentation/fa5174ff-678b-4cde-9b4a-a643c8838139-image.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-07T18%3A12%3A40Z&se=2026-11-07T19%3A12%3A40Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8OnyLhtnA3HrDBw6UhSCVvcxo2eWwLz8woum6VirNOg%3D)
2. Type “shell:startup” and click ok.
3. The startup folder will appear and you can drop shortcuts or applications into it.

## To find the common startup folder for all users

1. Right-click on the start menu and choose run

![](https://cdn.document360.io/57e3cd80-d493-453c-9672-ad1b043dadc3/Images/Documentation/03488fa0-5482-4cad-8126-065c0c4da678-windows-server-all-users-startup-folder.webp?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-07T18%3A12%3A40Z&se=2026-11-07T19%3A12%3A40Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=8OnyLhtnA3HrDBw6UhSCVvcxo2eWwLz8woum6VirNOg%3D)
2. Type “shell:common startup” and click ok.
3. The startup folder will appear and you can drop shortcuts or applications into it.

## Let us know how we can help

If you have further questions on this topic or have ideas about how we can improve this document, please [contact us](https://www.telosalliance.com/support-request).