Microsoft recently added a new automated notification to the latest versions of Windows 10 to let users know when an application registers to automatically start after system startup.
This new Windows 10 feature is particularly useful for applications that will run minimized without the user interface appearing on the screen or for those that only “launch” a “background task”.
Currently, the notification only warns about apps that are set to run at startup and are listed on the Settings > Apps > Startup apps page, as explained by Jen Gentleman, Senior Community Manager at Microsoft.
Available for Windows Insiders
When clicking on the notification, the user will be taken to the “Startup Apps” page in Windows 10 Settings to change startup settings using the toggles next to the app name.
Windows 10 apps configured to automatically start at logon via RunOnce, Service, or ScheduledTask will still avoid being invoked via the new startup app notifications.
The new app auto-launch warning system is already available in Windows 10 Build 20231 available on the Dev Channel, which can be installed by participating in the Windows 10 Insider program.
It relies on PUP blocking capability
By adding this new feature to Windows 10, Microsoft is making it easier to detect potentially malicious applications (PUAs) – also known as potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) – that want to launch unattended for various purposes, affecting system without the user's knowledge.
Microsoft improved potentially unwanted application protection in Windows 10, version 2004 by adding a potentially unwanted application blocking setting to the security that allows you to enable protection against PUAs and PUPs.
The “Block apps” setting enables Microsoft Defender’s “PUAProtection” which automatically detects PUA/PUPs after they are downloaded , while the Block downloads setting will check if the Block potentially unwanted apps setting is enabled in the Microsoft Edge browser .
