Edge Drop Guides | Published Aug 21, 2026 | Updated Oct 13, 2026 | 6 min read

How to Start Edge Drop With Windows (or Stop It)

Edge Drop starts with Windows by default. To change that, right-click the Edge Drop tray icon, select Settings, and on the Behaviour tab turn Launch at login on or off under General & Startup. When it's on, Edge Drop starts silently in the background each time you sign in, with only its tray icon showing.

How to turn Launch at login on or off

Right-click the Edge Drop icon in the system tray (it may be under the arrow that shows hidden icons) and select Settings.
Open the Behaviour tab.
Under General & Startup, switch Launch at login on or off.

The app describes the setting as "Start silently in background when computer boots". It's on by default after installing.

Does Edge Drop open a window when it starts?

No. A login launch is always silent: Edge Drop starts in the tray and waits at the screen edge, without opening the shelf or a settings window. That's why there's no separate "start minimized" option. Push the cursor to the shelf's edge or press Alt+C to open it.

Managing it from Windows instead

Windows keeps its own list of apps that start when you sign in:

Select Start > Settings > Apps > Startup.
Find Edge Drop and switch its toggle on or off.

Task Manager shows the same list: right-click Start, select Task Manager, open the Startup apps tab, select Edge Drop and choose Enable or Disable. The tab also shows each app's startup impact.

Either place works, but Edge Drop's own toggle is the simplest. If you've switched Edge Drop off in Windows' Startup list, switch it back on there too; turning the in-app toggle on may not override a block you set in Windows.

If Edge Drop doesn't start when you sign in

Check Launch at login is on in Edge Drop's Behaviour tab.
Check Edge Drop is on in Settings > Apps > Startup.
Sign out and back in to test: select Start, select your account picture or name, then Sign out. (Win+L locks the PC; it doesn't sign you out.)
Look for the Edge Drop icon in the system tray, including under the hidden-icons arrow.
If it's still missing, reinstall the latest version from the installation guide and turn the setting on again.

Should you keep it on?

Edge Drop records copies only while it's running, so with Launch at login off, nothing you copy before you open Edge Drop reaches the shelf. For most people, leaving it on is the point of a clipboard shelf.

Reasons you might turn it off:

You only use Edge Drop for specific tasks and prefer to start it from the Start menu when needed.
You're trying to cut down what runs at sign-in. There's no published measurement of Edge Drop's memory or startup cost; check the startup impact in Task Manager on your own PC. How much does a clipboard app slow Windows startup? explains how to measure it.
Someone else uses your Windows account and you don't want history building up. Consider Clear unpinned on restart or an auto-delete timer instead, which keep the app available but limit history.

Some of Edge Drop's design choices aim to keep it light while it waits: hardware (GPU) acceleration is turned off, it checks the cursor position less often when the pointer is far from the shelf (every 75 ms on mains power, 100 ms on battery), and it listens for Windows' clipboard-change notification, with a lighter check every 600 ms only as a fallback.

FAQ

Does Launch at login start Edge Drop before I sign in?

No. It starts after you sign in to your Windows account, and only for that account. Each Windows user has their own setting.

Will Edge Drop clear my history when it starts?

Only if Clear unpinned on restart is on; it's off by default. See clearing Edge Drop history on restart.

How do I start Edge Drop manually?

Open Start and select Edge Drop from the app list.

Sources

Configure startup applications in Windows (Microsoft Support) — the Startup page in Settings and the Startup apps tab in Task Manager.

Written by Deepender Yadav · Creator & Developer

Deepender Yadav created Edge Drop and builds and tests it, from the edge-hover shelf to each release. A B.Tech Computer Science Engineering student, Deepender writes the Edge Drop guides, comparisons and developer posts, and checks product details against the app's source code.

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