Startup Apps Option Missing in Settings in Windows 10 or 11

When you open Settings and click “Apps”, the “Startup” option may be missing. The Startup option lets you manage apps that start automatically when you sign in. Despite this issue, the Task Manager’s Startup tab may show the startup entries correctly.

Cause

This happens if the following Policy key or some of its values have been accidentally deleted.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Another possibility is that the SettingsPageVisibility policy has been configured on the system. For example, the SettingsPageVisibility policy can be configured to hide or show only specific pages in Settings.

RELATED: Task Manager Startup Entries Keep Getting Disabled

Resolution

To restore the missing “Startup” option in the Settings → Apps window, restore the missing Policies\System key using the following registry file:

  • Download policies_system.zip, unzip, and extract the two .REG files to the desktop.
  • If you’re using Windows 10, run “policies_system_w10.reg”. Click Yes to confirm.
  • If you’re using Windows 11, run “policies_system_w11.reg”. Click Yes to confirm.
  • Restart Windows for the changes to take effect.

Running the above registry file should restore the missing “Startup” option in the Settings → Apps page.

startup apps option missing in settings

Note: The above screenshot is from a Windows 11 computer. On Windows 10, the “Startup” option shows in the left pane, under the “Apps” menu.

INFO: Contents of the registry files

File: policies_system_w10.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin"=dword:00000005
"ConsentPromptBehaviorUser"=dword:00000003
"DSCAutomationHostEnabled"=dword:00000002
"EnableCursorSuppression"=dword:00000001
"EnableFullTrustStartupTasks"=dword:00000002
"EnableInstallerDetection"=dword:00000001
"EnableLUA"=dword:00000001
"EnableSecureUIAPaths"=dword:00000001
"EnableUIADesktopToggle"=dword:00000000
"EnableUwpStartupTasks"=dword:00000002
"EnableVirtualization"=dword:00000001
"PromptOnSecureDesktop"=dword:00000001
"SupportFullTrustStartupTasks"=dword:00000001
"SupportUwpStartupTasks"=dword:00000001
"ValidateAdminCodeSignatures"=dword:00000000
"undockwithoutlogon"=dword:00000001
"FilterAdministratorToken"=dword:00000001
"dontdisplaylastusername"=dword:00000000
"legalnoticecaption"=""
"legalnoticetext"=""
"scforceoption"=dword:00000000
"shutdownwithoutlogon"=dword:00000001
"DisableCAD"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\UIPI\Clipboard\ExceptionFormats]
"CF_BITMAP"=dword:00000002
"CF_DIB"=dword:00000008
"CF_DIBV5"=dword:00000011
"CF_OEMTEXT"=dword:00000007
"CF_PALETTE"=dword:00000009
"CF_TEXT"=dword:00000001
"CF_UNICODETEXT"=dword:0000000d

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"SettingsPageVisibility"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"SettingsPageVisibility"=-

File: policies_system_w11.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin"=dword:00000005
"DSCAutomationHostEnabled"=dword:00000002
"EnableCursorSuppression"=dword:00000001
"EnableFullTrustStartupTasks"=dword:00000002
"EnableInstallerDetection"=dword:00000001
"EnableLUA"=dword:00000001
"EnableSecureUIAPaths"=dword:00000001
"EnableUIADesktopToggle"=dword:00000000
"EnableUwpStartupTasks"=dword:00000002
"EnableVirtualization"=dword:00000001
"PromptOnSecureDesktop"=dword:00000001
"SupportFullTrustStartupTasks"=dword:00000001
"SupportUwpStartupTasks"=dword:00000001
"ValidateAdminCodeSignatures"=dword:00000000
"ConsentPromptBehaviorUser"=dword:00000001
"dontdisplaylastusername"=dword:00000000
"legalnoticecaption"=""
"legalnoticetext"=""
"scforceoption"=dword:00000000
"shutdownwithoutlogon"=dword:00000001
"undockwithoutlogon"=dword:00000001
"DisableCAD"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\UIPI\Clipboard\ExceptionFormats]
"CF_BITMAP"=dword:00000002
"CF_DIB"=dword:00000008
"CF_DIBV5"=dword:00000011
"CF_OEMTEXT"=dword:00000007
"CF_PALETTE"=dword:00000009
"CF_TEXT"=dword:00000001
"CF_UNICODETEXT"=dword:0000000d

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"SettingsPageVisibility"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"SettingsPageVisibility"=-

Note that the above fix also resolves the problem where the Task Manager Startup Entries Keep Getting Disabled.

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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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