Sometimes you are in the middle of a productive session in Windows 10, but you have to log out or restart your computer. Normally you will have to start your session again. But with a quick change in Settings, Windows can automatically remember and reopen your outdated apps when you log back in. Here’s how to set it up.
First, open Windows Settings. To do this, click on the Start menu and select the little gear icon, or press Windows + i on your keyboard.
In ‘Settings’, click on ‘Accounts’.
In ‘Accounts’, click on ‘Sign-in options’ in the sidebar.
In the login options, scroll down the page until you see the option ‘Restart apps’. Flip the switch just below it until it is set to ‘On’.
Then close Settings.
The next time you log out and log back in, what Microsoft calls your “restartable apps” will be automatically reloaded. It is up to the application developers to make their apps restartable so this may not work with all apps. However, it does include modern Windows 10 apps written for the UWP platform – which includes all apps offered in the Microsoft Store – and modern browsers.
Outdated apps (using the Win32 API) written for Windows versions earlier than Windows 8 may not restart automatically. Still, it is very useful!