How can I let applications start up automatically while booting?

Question

Is there an easy way to let applications start automatically, like in Windows: simply put a link in the autostart folder, or enter the path and the name of the executable in the registry?

Answer 1

Adding applications to autostart using the GUI

Starting applications automatically in elementary OS is as easy as in Windows, if not even easier.

1. Open System Settings
2. Click at Applications and switch to Startup
3. Click at the + button in the lower left corner
4. Choose your application or start typing it's name in the upper textfield. If it's a command, you would like to start, type it in the lower textfield

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Manually adding Applications to autostart

All autostart entries are being stored in ~/.config/autostart. The entries are basically .desktop files.
This is an example of my Insync autostart entry:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Insync
GenericName=Insync
Comment=Launch Insync
Icon=insync
Categories=Network;
Exec=insync start
TryExec=insync
Terminal=false
X-GNOME-Autostart-Delay=3
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true

The only difference are the last two lines. X-GNOME-Autostart-Delay adds a delay in seconds, and X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled decides if this application is enabled or disabled as autostart entry.

Instead of using the GUI, you can copy the .desktop file of your desired autostart application from /usr/share/applications/ or ~/.local/share/applications/ and add the two missing lines by hand.

Answer 2

Sure there is!

1. Open System Settings -> Applications -> Startup tab.
2. Click on the + icon in the lower left corner.
3. Find the app you want.

Done!