Startup folder locations for Windows 7, 8, 10

The startup folder is a convenient way to open programs or scripts when a user logs in.

Windows provides two types of startup folders:

  1. for each individual user or
  2. all users

The following shows the default location of the startup folder for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Windows 7, 8, 10 startup folder locations

Startup folder for current logged in user

%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Startup folder for another user

Note: change %UserName% as required.

C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Startup folder for all users

Note that this includes the GUEST account.

%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Or if browsing, typically this will be:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup