Open multiple application programs

With a new computer in hand, I set myself the challenge of finding ways to automate as many tasks as possible. One of the areas I knew I could save a lot of time was by automatically opening multiple programs at once with just 1-click.

This is especially useful when I want to open my coding development platform, as that involves opening 5 programs each time. If you are anything like me and like to keep files organized and easy to find on your computer, I suggest creating a folder in your documents folder just for automation files.

I have a few programs on my Surface I use to automate my workflow, so inside of my automations folder, I have created a folder just for batch files. I will now take you through the steps I took to create a batch file to open all the default programs I use when I am coding my websites with just 1-click.

You can apply the following steps to any set of multiple programs you want to open with 1-click on Windows 95 through to Windows First, open your favorite text editor.

I use Sublime Text 3. However, Windows Notepad will also work just fine. Next, I create a new document in my text editor and save it as a batch file to my automations folder mentioned above with a relevant name. To save a file as a batch file, we need to save it with the file extension. For this example, I will name it web-design-default-programs. By default when you run a batch file the command window will pop up, and it will log each action as it is carried out. This can be great for when you are developing a script.

You can find the name of the programs. Then press and hold the windows key, while clicking on the multiple apps tiles. Do not release the windows key during this process. Instantly, it will start opening all the apps in the background. After all the specified programs are opened, release the windows key. Batch files allow opening multiple programs simultaneously. To begin with, create a batch file, then enter the path of the programs that you use daily and want them to open at once.

That will open the File Explorer window right into the program location. Step 1: Open the Start menu and go to All apps to find the first program you want to open in your batch. Right-click on the program and click Open file location. Step 2: A File Explorer window will open to the program's location.

Right-click on the program in the File Explorer window and click Properties. Step 3: In the Properties window, click the Shortcut tab. Find Target: field, select the text in the textbox, and copy it. Open up a new Notepad noteand paste this text in that window. You should now go ahead and test out your batch file and see if all of your programs load up. One thing I have found is that loading applications via a batch file is much faster for some reason.

To do this, click on Start, type in task scheduler and click on the first link. On the right hand side, you should see a link to Create Basic Task. Go ahead and click on that. Now give your basic task a name, which can be whatever you want. You can also give it a description if you like. Click Next when done. The next step is to choose the trigger. In our case, we want the batch file to be run when we log onto the computer, so choose When I log on.

The next step is to choose an action. In our case, the action will be to run our batch script, so choose Start a program.