How to block reopening of Programs on Windows 10 start

Microsoft made a fundamental change in the Fall Creators Update for Windows 10 that changes how the operating system handles program windows that were open during the last shutdown or restart.

Previous versions of Windows closed open programs on shutdown or restart, and kept them closed when you'd boot into the system the next time.

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update tries and loads programs and apps that were open during shutdown or restart on the next start of the operating system.

This behavior is independent of the operating system's autostart functionality.

Note: It appears that the procedure works for some programs and applications but not all of them. Google Chrome and Visual Studio will be relaunched for instance, while Microsoft Edge won't be.

A Microsoft support engineer revealed the change on Microsoft's Answers website.

This is actually a change in the core functionality of Windows in this development cycle.

Old behavior:

• When you shut down your PC, all apps are closed
• After reboot/restart, you have to re-open any app you'd like to use

New behavior:

• When shutting down your PC, any open apps are "bookmarked" (for lack of a better word)
• After reboot/restart, these apps will re-open automatically

Block reopening of Programs on Windows 10 start

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Microsoft's solution to the issue is simple: exit any program that you don't want to be loaded again on the next Windows start. While this may work for some, if you are used to shutting down the system with programs still open on it, you may need a couple of weeks of adjusting to the new workflow before you don't experience the issue anymore.

You have two other options that block the new behavior of Windows 10:

1. Use Alt-F4 to display the shutdown Windows dialog, and select the shut down option from the menu. Note: All program windows need to be minimized for this to work, as you will close the active program window otherwise. Tip: Use Windows-D to minimize all windows.
2. Run the shutdown command shutdown /r /t 0 to restart the system. Use shutdown /s /hybrid /t 0 instead to shut down and configure Windows to use Fast Boot. So, /r is restart, /s is shutdown Check out our shutdown overview for an in-depth guide.

Please note that the "Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my devices after an update or restart" that you find under Settings > Accounts > Sign-in Options is completely independent of this.

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You can turn this off however if you don't want Windows to do so automatically after updates.

Cortana's "Pick up where I left off" feature is also independent of this.

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You can configure the feature in the following way:

1. Tap on the Windows-key.
2. Type something, and select the Notebook entry on the left sidebar menu. You can click on the three horizontal lines to display menu names.
3. You need to allow Cortana to personalize the experience.
4. Then, you may select "Pick Up where I left off" from the settings and toggle the feature on or off.

Windows updates are like cancer. If you want useable OS you have to block half of the "functions" now.