Microsoft’s new Startup Boost feature promises to speed up the launch times of Office apps by preloading them as soon as your PC boots up, according to Windows Latest. The technology works by launching selected Office applications in the background right after startup, then placing them into a suspended state where they consume minimal CPU and memory. When you open an app, it springs to life much faster since it’s already partially loaded.
Startup Boost will only activate on computers with at least 8GB of RAM and 5GB of free disk space, ensuring it targets machines capable of handling the additional background processes without performance degradation. Furthermore, the feature intelligently disables itself if the system needs to reallocate resources or enters power-saving mode, helping to preserve battery life and responsiveness.
Users retain full control and can disable Startup Boost entirely via Office’s settings if they prefer to keep all apps closed at startup.
Though the concept of auto-launching applications at system startup is nothing new, Microsoft’s approach to keep apps suspended rather than fully running is a clever refinement that minimizes resource usage while maximizing readiness.
Currently, Startup Boost is available only for Microsoft Word but is planned to expand to other Office apps like Excel and PowerPoint. The feature began rolling out in June and is expected to be available for all eligible users by September.
