Enable Custom Startup Sound for All Users with Regedit

Customizing the Windows startup sound across all user profiles requires configuring system-level policies and event sound paths within the Windows Registry. This guide provides administrators with the direct steps to enable the startup sound functionality, unhide the logon audio event, and apply a custom .wav sound file for all existing and new user accounts using the Registry Editor (regedit.exe).

Step 1: Enable the Startup Sound in the Registry

By default, modern Windows versions may disable startup sound playback. To force the startup sound policy to be enabled system-wide:

  1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.

  2. Navigate to the following path:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\BootAnimation

  3. Locate the DisableStartupSound DWORD (32-bit) value. If it does not exist, right-click the BootAnimation key, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it DisableStartupSound.

  4. Double-click DisableStartupSound and set its Value data to 0.

Step 2: Unhide the Windows Logon Sound Event

Windows hides the “Windows Logon” sound setting from the Sound Control Panel by default. You can unhide it to enable audio file assignment:

  1. In the Registry Editor, navigate to:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\EventLabels\WindowsLogon

  2. Locate the ExcludeFromCPL DWORD value.

  3. Double-click ExcludeFromCPL and change its Value data from 1 to 0.

Step 3: Assign the Custom Startup Sound File

To set the audio file that plays during logon:

  1. Place your custom .wav audio file in a globally accessible directory, such as C:\Windows\Media\custom-startup.wav.

  2. Navigate to:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\WindowsLogon\.Current

  3. Double-click the (Default) string value in the right pane.

  4. Enter the full path of your custom audio file (e.g., C:\Windows\Media\custom-startup.wav) into the Value data field and click OK.

Step 4: Deploy the Configuration to All Users

To ensure the custom sound plays for all existing and future users on the machine:

For New Users (Default Profile):

  1. In the Registry Editor, select HKEY_USERS.

  2. Click File > Load Hive… and open C:\Users\Default\NTUSER.DAT.

  3. Name the loaded key DefaultUser.

  4. Navigate to:

    HKEY_USERS\DefaultUser\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\WindowsLogon\.Current

  5. Update the (Default) string value with the absolute path to your custom .wav file.

  6. Select HKEY_USERS\DefaultUser, click File > Unload Hive…, and confirm.

For Existing Users:

Apply the same registry change under each user’s Security Identifier (SID) subkey located in HKEY_USERS\<User-SID>\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\WindowsLogon\.Current, or deploy a .reg file containing the HKEY_CURRENT_USER modification via an administrative logon script.