When running docker-compose up -d on Windows, Docker automatically configures containers to restart unless explicitly told otherwise. This behavior stems from Docker's default restart policy being set to unless-stopped in many cases.

The most maintainable approach is to specify the restart policy in your docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'
services:
  your_service:
    image: your_image
    restart: "no"  # Explicitly disable auto-restart

For already running containers, use this Docker command:

docker update --restart=no container_name_or_id

To modify Docker's global behavior on Windows:

# Edit the Docker daemon configuration
{
  "restart": false
}

Then restart the Docker service:

Restart-Service Docker

Check a container's restart policy with:

docker inspect -f "{{ .HostConfig.RestartPolicy.Name }}" container_name

Should return no for disabled containers.

Watch out for:

• Systemd configurations that might override Docker settings
• Windows Task Scheduler auto-starting Docker containers
• Group Policy enforcing certain restart behaviors

When working with Docker on Windows 10/11, containers launched via docker-compose up -d will automatically restart after system reboot due to Docker's default restart policy. This behavior stems from the implicit restart: unless-stopped setting in Docker Compose.

The most straightforward solution is to modify your docker-compose.yml to explicitly set the restart policy:

version: '3.8'
services:
  webapp:
    image: nginx:latest
    restart: "no"  # Critical setting to prevent auto-start
    ports:
      - "80:80"

For existing containers or when you need more control:

Method 1: Update running containers

docker update --restart=no container_name

Method 2: Create containers with explicit policy

docker run -d --restart=no nginx:latest

For complete control over Docker's startup behavior in Windows:

1. Open Services management console (services.msc)
2. Locate "Docker Desktop Service"
3. Set startup type to "Manual" instead of "Automatic"

After making changes, verify using:

docker inspect --format='{{.HostConfig.RestartPolicy.Name}}' container_name

Should return no for containers with disabled auto-restart.

If using Docker Swarm mode, you'll need to specify the restart policy in your service definition:

docker service create \
  --name myservice \
  --restart-condition none \
  nginx:latest