To open it, launch your desktop’s file manager, plug ~/.config into its address bar, and press Enter. config indicates that it’s a hidden directory, while the ~ indicates that it’s in your home directory - so, at /home/username/.config/autostart/. You can also manage this from the hidden ~/.config/autostart/ directory, which all desktops should read. Examine your Linux desktop’s settings windows to find the appropriate tool. The GNOME desktop seems to have removed the old gnome-session-properties tool, but this option is still available in GNOME Tweak Tool, which is even installed by default on some Linux distributions. Overall, it was able to close all the programs in my test run, but it took. Again, as with Close All, if a file is open in a program and it’s unsaved, you will be prompted to save the file, in which case you will have to manually click that button. You can also just use this tool to run a command at login. When you click Next, SmartClose will get to work and start shutting down all your programs. Type a name and provide the command to launch the application. Click the “Add” button in this list to add your own applications.
RELATED: How to Manage Startup Applications in Ubuntu 14.04ĭifferent Linux desktops have different ways of doing this. For example, on Ubuntu’s Unity desktop, open the Dash and type the word “start.” Click the “ Startup Applications” shortcut to see a list of startup applications. They’ll load automatically when you sign into your computer. Open the System Preferences window by clicking the Apple menu and selecting System Preferences, click the “Users & Groups” icon, and click “Login Items.”Ĭlick the “+” button at the bottom of this list to add applications, or drag-and-drop them into the list of applications.
On Mac OS X, the same interface that allows you to disable startup programs also allows you to add your own custom ones.
RELATED: Mac OS X: Change Which Apps Start Automatically at Login
On Windows 10, you can just drag-and-drop shortcuts from the “All Apps” list in the Start menu directly into this folder. Paste shortcuts into this folder and Windows will automatically load them when you sign into your computer. If you’d like a shortcut to launch itself whenever any user logs in, type “shell:common startup” into the Run dialog instead. Shortcuts you add to the “shell:startup” folder will only launch when you log in with your user account.