Windows – Where does Windows store the settings for Scheduled Tasks console

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I would like to know where Windows stores information for Scheduled Tasks. I would like to be able to find the reference for the name, schedule, or command to run associated with a given task. This may not be practical or possible, but I would also like a means to edit the scheduled tasks and their attributes outside the Schedule Tasks console. I've assumed that the data would be in the Registry somewhere, since I doubt it would be stored in a normal file, but I'm uncertain where I should be looking.

Best Answer

Windows stores scheduled tasks as XML files, AND in the registry.

You can find them in a few places:

Filesystem:

%systemroot%\System32\Tasks
%systemroot%\Tasks

Registry:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\Taskcache\Tasks
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\Taskcache\Tree

Note: You can't edit the XML files directly in \Tasks for security reasons. See here for more information: https://serverfault.com/questions/440496/ok-to-edit-tasks-xml-file-in-c-windows-system32-tasks

To work with importing the XML files without going through the scheduled task UI you can look at these:

Schtasks.exe
Powershell Scheduled Task Cmdlets

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