---
title: Disabling Automatic SDK Initialization - Android (classic)
description: How to disable autostart in the Contentsquare SDK for Android
lastUpdated: 16 March 2026
source_url:
  html: https://docs.contentsquare.com/en/android/disable-autostart/
  md: https://docs.contentsquare.com/en/android/disable-autostart/index.md
---

> Documentation index: https://docs.contentsquare.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The latest CSQ SDK is here! Learn how to [upgrade your app](https://docs.contentsquare.com/en/csq-sdk-android/experience-analytics/upgrade-from-cs-sdk/).

By default the SDK initializes automatically at startup; you can disable this behavior and call `start()` manually.

## How to disable autostart

Set the `com.contentsquare.android.autostart` flag to false in your `AndroidManifest.xml` file.

**AndroidManifest.xml**

```xml
<application>
  ...
    <meta-data
      android:name="com.contentsquare.android.autostart"
      android:value="false"
    />
  ...
</application>
```

Then, you can start the Contentsquare SDK by calling the `start()` method of the Contentsquare class.

```kotlin
Contentsquare.start(context)
```

This initialize function is called automatically on app startup if the `com.contentsquare.android.autostart` flag is not listed in the AndroidManifest.

This function should be called before the first activity is created. Call this function in the `onCreate()` method of a custom Application subclass:

```kotlin
import android.app.Application
import com.contentsquare.android.Contentsquare


class MyApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()


        // Start Contentsquare SDK
        Contentsquare.start(this)
    }
}
```