Windows 8 Start Screen On Startup and Jump Directly To Desktop

Introduction

In this article we explain how to bypass the Windows 8 Start Screen on startup & jump directly to the Desktop.

Procedure to jump directly to the Desktop

Step 1

The Windows 8 startup requires creating a Show Desktop shortcut in the Startup folder. First we open the startup folder:

C:\Users\<User Profile>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Now we right-click and select "Shortcut" from the "New" context menu item and enter the following Show Desktop shortcut command:

C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}

 

Step 2

Once done, give the shortcut an appropriate name and click "Finish" to end the wizard. Then restart your PC and see the effect. It takes you directly to the Desktop at startup.

Step 3

After that, we want to speed up the process. We can bind  the Show Desktop script with the Windows Logon event to run a script as soon as you log into windows. We could use the Group Local Policy editor to create a Logon script or Event Viewer to manually associate the Show Desktop script with a Windows Logon event.

Step 4

To get started, copy the previosuly mentioned Show Desktop command, open Search from the Charms Bar ("Win+C") and click "Settings". Now enter "event viewer" in the search bar to open the View event logs dialog.

 

Step 5

In Event Viewer, expand the Windows Logs list from the main navigation bar and then select Application. Now select Winlogon from the Source column in the main window, and right-click it to select the "Attach Task To This Event" option.

 

Step 6

In the "Create Basic Task Wizard", move to the "Action" tab by clicking "Next". The Action tab lets you start a program, send an email or display a message when the associated event occurs. Just select "Start a program" and hit "Next". Now paste the Show Desktop command to add both main executable files (explorer.exe) and command argument.

 

Once done, close the wizard and open Task Scheduler from the Search sidebar to verify the trigger and action associated with the winlogon event. Now when Windows 8 starts up, it will take you directly to the Desktop instead of showing the Metro Start Screen.