Spotify Opens on Startup No Matter What

[justawhiteguy]

Issue: Spotify opens on startup even though the Advanced Preferences has "Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer" set to "No".

OS: Windows 7 Professional SP1

Spotify Version: 1.0.58.573.g57c9cd87

Just as a note, this started occurring only after Spotify automatically upgraded.

Attempts at Workaround:

1. Completely uninstall (deleted entire AppData\Roaming\Spotify directory) and reinstall
2. Downgrade to previous version (1.0.57.474)
3. Disabled Spotify in MSCONFIG
4. Change spotify.exe to spotify1.exe (supported as a solution elsewhere in this forum)

The closest attempt at this being resolved was through #3. However, there were weird results.

First I disabled Spotify.exe from opening on startup. (SpotifyWebHelper.exe was already disabled) 

After restart, Spotify did not open on startup (success! but not really...). MSCONFIG still shows that Spotify.exe is disabled, but SpotifyWebHelper.exe is no longer appearing...

I then opened Spotify, went back to MSCONFIG and now I have two instances of Spotify.exe in Startup, one that I had originally disabled and a new one that is enabled after starting Spotify.

There are a couple issues here... the first is obvious, if I say No I don't want Spotify opening when I login from the "Advanced Settings", then that should be it - Spotify shouldn't be opening when I login. The second, the fact that I had to change the Windows configuration to prevent Spotify from starting, then after reopening Spotify it adds a new startup configuration so that it can open on startup is a lot more concerning.

Are there any other potential workarounds at this time that I haven't tried? Since I have seen recently a common thread of users complaining in this forum about Spotify opening on startup even though the Advanced Settings has it set to No, I hope there is something in the works from the dev team as this is an annoying bug - and seems to be a potentially scary bug as it continues to override the startup configurations.

[Radeon85OCUK]

Have the same issue on Windows 10 (creators update). Spotify completley ignores my do not start at startup setting.

Spotify Version: 1.0.58.573.g57c9cd87

[justawhiteguy · Accepted solution]

I think I have found a workaround, but don't know what impacts it may have...

Go to Task Manager and kill SpotifyWebHelper.exe process.

Go to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Spotify and delete SpotifyWebHelper.exe.

Go to MSCONFIG and make sure Spotify is disabled under the Startup tab (if it's there)

Since I've done this, Spotify hasn't run on startup - but as I said, I don't know the impacts of deleting SpotifyWebHelper.exe

[DukeJohnBob]

Yup, same issue with me since the recent auto-update (Win 10).

Opens every start-up... very annoying.

v. 1.0.58.573.g57c9cd87

Get this bug sorted Spotify!

[ATarlyovski]

Same here, Spotify starts up in the foreground every time I log in on my PC (Windows 10), regardless of the option I select in Preferences (Yes/No/Minimized).

Spotify version: 1.0.58.573.g57c9cd87

[ariich]

Same problem here, really annoying the way it pops up every time and slows down my startup. May need to uninstall if it keeps doing this.

[sander386]

Hey Spotify, fix this please.

[kirashi]

Hello @justawhiteguy. Thanks for posting in the Spotify Community!

Not cool that it keeps opening on startup despite what you've tried already. I think you're on the right track with disabling startup from within Spotify itself, and then in Task Manager just to be sure, so that's good to see. 🙂

One other thing you can look into is your Startup folders in your start menu. There might be a shortcut to Spotify inside there for whatever reason, so let's take a peek.

You can get to both Startup folder locations by pressing WINDOWS + R and copying in the following 2 directories:

• C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
• %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

If you find a Spotify shortcut, go ahead and either delete it, or just move it to your desktop in case you need to restore it at some point. Then either logout and back in again, or reboot, and see if Spotify still launches upon login. Let me know how it goes!

[quasiChaos]

Neither location contains a reference to anything Spotify-ish. Happens both on my desktop and laptop ever since the most recent update. (1.0.58.573.g57c9cd87) Triple checked in the settings and it is definitely set to not auto-start.

[shokosamurai · Accepted solution]

Workaround discussed in the below listed thread.  Spotify seems to do weekly updates  so this should be patched in the next version.

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Linux-Windows-Web-Player/Spotify-opens-on-login-even-with-o...

[lucas_jrs]

i'll try that. So annoying, Spotify, COME ON!

[blowin-steam]

i am having the same problem, spotify should sort this out, i am uninstalling it, and simply will not use spotify any more, i have had my account hacked, which means i now get rubbish music suggestions,  and now this irritating problem, it slows down start up, i do not want the stupid app to open until i tell it to, this is intrusive, and i really dont see why i should have to find workarounds, this is a known problem and should be sorted by spotify, but just like when i couldnt get rid of friends music suggestion, spotify will do nothing for months and months, spotify support is waste of time. they should forget any idea of going public, the shares will tank, its getting old and out of date, until they have better support, they should go hide in a corner ashamed.

[BillyRollock]

I'll go better than that- I'll simply unsubscribe. How dare they hijack my machine so that I can't prevent them having control of it!

[mounsey]

It had better be! (exceedingly annoying - I love Spotify, but I do NOT want it auto-loading each and every time on Startup/boot. #annoying!).

[DukeJohnBob]

It didn't open for me today... and looks like I'm now on v1.0.59.395.ge6ca9946.

So hopefully they've fixed it... whoop whoop!

[DukeJohnBob]

It didn't open for me today, and looks like I've been updated to v.1.0.59.395.ge6ca9946

So hopefully they've solved it... whoop whoop!

DOH - double posted!... how do I delete this! 😕

[Frutrated_User]

I appears that this has been going on for over 4 years.

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Linux-Windows-Web-Player/How-can-I-keep-this-from-automatic...

I will now uninstall Spotify and cancel my account.

What a shame they were unwilling to fix this simple problem.

(I used the word unwilling quite deliberatly instead of unable)

[kurochan · Accepted solution]

Disabling the "Allow Spotify to be opened from the Web" option removed the entry from the startup options for me on Windows 10.

See attached image (sorry for the Italian UI Advanced Menu)

[AdgeTimick]

Yeah, nope.  I'm having the same problem all of the sudden.  Been using Spotify since 2011, I believe, and never run into this issue of it auto-loading on Startup until the last couple of months.  Will cancel my subscription soon if this isn't fixed.  It's irritating and obnoxious that Spotify devs just don't care and some people brought this up four years ago..

[HuB]

I've got this issue as well. Windows 10. Please resolve Spotify!