Stop Windows delaying your startup apps — via Microsoft Q&A

Registrylow riskWindows 11Windows 10

After sign-in, Windows deliberately holds back apps in the Startup folder and Run keys until the system is idle, which can make them appear a minute or more late. Two per-user values remove the wait. Not an official setting, so a future update may ignore or remove it.

Sign out and back in

Registry change

Download apply .reg Download undo .reg

Double-click a .reg file and confirm to merge it. Right-click → Edit first if you want to read it, which is always a good idea with any .reg file from the internet.

Apply

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: Stop Windows delaying your startup apps

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Serialize]
"StartupDelayInMSec"=dword:00000000
"WaitForIdleState"=dword:00000000

Undo

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: undo Stop Windows delaying your startup apps

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Serialize]
"StartupDelayInMSec"=-
"WaitForIdleState"=-

Same thing from a command prompt

Run in a normal (non-admin) Command Prompt or Terminal.

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Serialize" /v "StartupDelayInMSec" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Serialize" /v "WaitForIdleState" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Undo:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Serialize" /v "StartupDelayInMSec" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Serialize" /v "WaitForIdleState" /f

Community-sourced and undocumented by Microsoft. Winaero documents StartupDelayInMSec (written for Windows 10); WaitForIdleState comes only from a community answer on Microsoft Q&A, which also warns that some Windows updates delete the Serialize key, so you may need to reapply it. The delay exists so startup apps don't compete with sign-in; removing it can make the first seconds after sign-in feel busier.

Sources

Startup apps delayed — accepted answer with Serialize values — by Microsoft Q&A
Speed up the startup of desktop apps in Windows 10 — by Sergey Tkachenko, Winaero

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every Windows build, so keep the undo handy.

startupstartup delayrun keysign-inexplorer

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Tricklow risk

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Commandlow riskAdmin

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Commandlow risk

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