‘When stress and anxiety have your system stuck in a brainstem loop?

Reboot. It’s I.T. for life!’

Bill Crawford

One of the nice things about Windows 10 is that it cares enough to ensure that you are always aware of the apps that are still running while you are trying to shut down or reboot your PC. This feature is indeed helpful since it can prevent you from losing important work and thus save you a lot of tears.

That said, in certain cases, it might prove quite convenient to disable this setting. That is why a lot of users keep asking,

How do I automatically close all programs before shutting down the PC?

We believe that is the question that has brought you here, so it is time we showed you how to close apps automatically at restart, shutdown or sign-out.

If you want your Windows 10 to automatically close programs in all the above-mentioned scenarios, you have no choice but to make some changes to your registry. We implore you to proceed with caution since Windows Registry is an extremely important and sensitive system.

A tiny mistake in it can actually kill your Windows, so make sure you follow the instructions below really carefully:

  1. Open your Search box by pressing the Windows logo key + S shortcut on your keyboard.
  2. Type Regedit and hit the Enter key to proceed.
  3. When you see the User Account Control prompt, click Yes.
  4. Enter your admin sign-in information if the need arises.
  5. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
  6. Navigate to the right panel and right-click on any empty spot there.
  7. Click on New. Then select the String Value from the drop-down menu.
  8. Name the new value as AutoEndTasks.
  9. Double-click on the value in question.
  10. Set its value data to “1”.
  11. Click OK to apply the changes.
  12. Exit Registry Editor. Then reboot your computer.

The changes you have made will force your OS to automatically close running programs at restart, shutdown or sign-out and help you save valuable time.

The good news is, you can go even further in optimizing your Windows 10. There is a tool that can skyrocket your system’s performance by tuning your system settings and getting rid of the junk accumulated on your PC. The software in question is called Auslogics BoostSpeed, and it works wonders, so we recommend that you give it a try.

Have our instructions proved helpful? Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance in the comments section below.