Startup App Notification Enhances System Performance by Flagging Resource Hogs

Boost Your System Performance with Startup App Notification

There are numerous ways to speed up Windows without resorting to costly hardware upgrades, such as disabling running processes and features. Windows includes a handy, lesser-known feature that can enhance your system performance by eliminating annoying resource hogs you might not even be aware of.

If you frequently install software, you’re likely familiar with the fact that many apps will automatically set themselves to run at login. While this can be useful, it can also be a nuisance, consuming system resources without your permission or even your knowledge. Although you can check what's running using Task Manager, there's a more convenient way to be alerted automatically without lifting a finger.

Startup App Notification will send you an alert whenever a new app decides to add itself to the startup process.

To enable this feature in Windows 11:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select System and click on Notifications.
3. Scroll down the list and near the bottom (above Additional Settings), you should see a Startup App Notification toggle. Flick this to On.

You can click the arrow next to the setting to adjust the type of notifications you want to see — notification banners and/or alerts in the notification center. You can also configure other settings, including playing a sound when a notification arrives, and setting a priority.

Once up and running, you can test the feature by tapping Win+R and entering “shell:startup” into the run box. This will open the Startup folder. Drop any program into this folder and wait. After a few seconds, you should see an alert informing you that the added program has been configured to run when you log in, and you'll be given the option to change this. You can also simply delete the test program from the folder.

While it’s a great feature, it won’t alert you to scheduled tasks or services running entirely in the background, so you'll still need to pay attention when installing something new.

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