What it does
Autoruns lists Windows autostart locations and associated programs, with filtering and a command-line companion.
Autoruns is useful when an investigation asks how a program starts again after reboot or login. Microsoft's page lists services, registry locations, shell extensions and other autostart mechanisms. Use its filtering to narrow review without losing the broader context. Verify an entry's path and purpose before disabling it, because legitimate software also uses these mechanisms.
Strengths
- Broad autostart-location visibility
Best for
- Windows administrators reviewing persistence mechanisms
Sources
- Autoruns - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn (Oct 26, 2026)