With Windows 10, Microsoft has introduced a completely overhauled Settings app. The new Settings app aims to replace the classic Control Panel. The Settings app has been revamped and enhanced further in Windows 11.
The new Settings app is impressive in almost every way. It’s fast, easy to navigate, and includes all the settings and options that you might need to change often. The best part is that it is easy to use on touch devices, unlike the classic Control Panel.
While the Settings app works great, there are some settings that are not available in the Settings app just yet. Features like System Restore and Windows To Go can be accessed from the Control Panel only.
While it’s true that the Settings app is easy to navigate and use, long-time Windows users always prefer the classic Control Panel over the Settings app while running Windows 10 desktops and laptops.
That said, the Control Panel is still present in Windows 10/11 and is identical to the one in previous Windows iterations. If you prefer using the classic Control Panel over the Settings app, simply follow the instructions mentioned in one of the methods given below to open the classic Control Panel in Windows 10/11.
Method 1 of 11
Launch the Control Panel using the search in Windows 10/11
Step 1: Open the Start menu or click on the taskbar search box.
Step 2: In the search box, enter Control Panel and then press the Enter key to open the same.
Tip: You can quickly access the search with the help of the Windows + S hotkey.
Method 2 of 11
Opening Control Panel via Run command
Step 1: Open the Run command box by simultaneously pressing the Windows and R keys (Windows+R).
Step 2: In the Run dialog box, type Control and then press Enter key to open the classic Control Panel.
Method 3 of 11
Open Control Panel from Command Prompt in Windows 10/11
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt using search.
Step 2: At the Command Prompt window, type Control Panel and hit the Enter key to launch the Control Panel.
Method 4 of 11
Launch Control Panel from Windows 10/11 File Explorer
Step 1: Open File Explorer. In the address bar, type Control Panel and then press the Enter key to open the Control Panel.
Method 5 of 11
Another way to open Control Panel via File Explorer in Windows 10/11
Step 1: Open This PC, Quick Access/Home, or any other folder.
Step 2: In the address bar of the File Explorer, click on the arrow icon from the left (refer to the picture below) and then click on the Control Panel option to open the same.
Method 6 of 11
Open the Control Panel from the Settings app in Windows 10/11
Step 1: Control Panel in the Settings app and hit the Enter key to open the Control Panel from the Settings app.
Method 7 of 11
Open Control Panel via Task Manager in Windows 10
NOTE: This method does not seem to work with the latest Windows 11.
Did you know that you can open the Control Panel right from the Task Manager? Yes, you can do that. Here is how.
Step 1: In the Task Manager, click the File menu and then click Run new task.
Step 2: In the Create new task dialog, type Control Panel and then press the Enter key.
Method 8 of 11
Create a Control Panel shortcut on the desktop
Step 1: Right-click on the desktop, click New, and then click Shortcut.
Step 2: In the Type the location of the item box, type the following path.
explorer shell:ControlPanelFolder
Click the Next button.
Step 3: In the Type a name for this shortcut box, type Control Panel, and click the Finish button.
That’s it! You can now double-click on the Control Panel icon on the desktop to quickly launch the same.
Method 9 of 11
Pin Control Panel to Start or taskbar
Step 1: In the Start search box, type Control Panel.
Step 2: When you see search results, right-click on the Control Panel entry and then click Pin to Start to pin Control Panel to the Start menu or screen.
Step 3: Clicking Pin to the taskbar will pin the Control Panel to the taskbar!
Method 10 of 11
Open Control Panel via PowerShell in Windows 10/11
Step 1: Open the Windows PowerShell using search.
Step 2: At the PowerShell window, type Control Panel and then press the Enter key to open the Control Panel. Simple as that!
Method 11 of 11
Access Control Panel in Windows 10 from the desktop
NOTE: This method does not work in recent versions of Windows 10 and 11. Microsoft has replaced the Control Panel with Settings in the Win +X menu.
This is probably the easiest way to launch the Control Panel with a mouse.
Step 1: Right-click on the Start button (Windows logo button at the bottom-left corner of the desktop) and then click the Control Panel to open the same.
How to add Control Panel to the Windows 10 Start menu guide might also interest you.
Bill G Meador says
Not sure what dimension these steps come from, but ABSOLUTELY none of them work!
Terence Goodwin says
I tried to update from windows 10 to windows 11 but it failed so I am still on windows 10. In the process the drivers for my two HP printers were deleted so I cannot use either printer now. If I try to download those printer drivers HP claim that they are no longer available.
Shadow says
From your article:
~In short, Microsoft wants everyone to use the new Settings app in Windows 10 as it’s easier to use.
~While it’s true that the Settings app is easy-to-navigate and use,. . .
~ Right-click on the Start button (Windows logo button at the bottom-left corner of the desktop) and then click Control Panel to open the same.
~Tip: You can quickly access the search with the help of Windows + C hotkey.
As an old time computer user (IBM 1130 assembler language my first) if the new windows app is so much better why the plethora of sites like this trying to explain the crap-ware that Microsoft is. I suppose that is to be expected since they (Microsoft) did little innovative work, getting most of their tech by ripping off others (Wang word processor, Xerox, DOS, Woody’s windows tools, etc.).
Yet after all this and actually finding some of the sound settings, I still cannot turn off the obnoxiously loud “AC power on/connect power cable” and “power off/disconnect power cable” alarm beeps. I have to put my laptop under a large couch cushion when I “power on/connect power cable” to keep the sound from rousing my sleeping roommates.
Solution: Reading a lot of info on switching to a Linux OS.
GL says
Method 6: Use File Explorer
1) + E to open File Explorer
2) Click on the leftmost ‘>’ in the address bar at the top of the window
3) This opens up a drop down menu where you can choose “Control Panel”
Nancy Burger says
I don’t have windows 10. So get this message off my computer.
Michael says
why does it take 50,000 words to explain something simply, I do not understand, yet at the end I am still confused, I really dislike this types of garbage, if you really want help people then try explaining things succinctly and quickly. Some of us do not have the whole day going through your drivel.
Graeme Brady says
Great post. Very nicely set out and easy to follow. It is sad that MS can’t provide proper support.
They really want you to use their Settings which I find cumbersome and not intuitive.
To the point that, it may be my settings, that control panel has at some time been removed from the “Start” right click menu and been replaced with Settings. You might like to double check.
ThinkingAboutGoingLinux says
Thanks for this helpful post! I’ve pinned Control Panel to my taskbar.
I can understand Microsoft wanting to make things simpler, and I can understand them wanting to appeal to phone users by making the interface the same for computers as for phones, but it’s quite amazing to me how happy they seem to be to annoy their existing customer base. I don’t find the settings app easier to use than Control Panel, I actually find it more difficult. Sub-options in it aren’t where I intuitively expect them to be, so even after I find them once I often struggle to find the same option or setting again next time I need it. Also, Control Panel may have been hard to find things in because there was a lot to look through in it, but at least I had confidence that certain types of settings would be there somewhere. With Settings, it feels like a lot of options just aren’t there, or if they are there then they’re not somewhere I can easily find them.
For instance, today for some reason my volume control has stopped responding – normally I can right-click on the icon in the bottom right corner of screen and it opens a pop-up to adjust the volume. I don’t want to reboot the computer for something so trivial, it takes too long. In Control Panel, it’s fairly obvious that there will be something listed under Sounds to adjust the volume. In Settings, I couldn’t find a way to get to it from the main menu; if I type ‘Volume’ in the search box in Settings, then yes it suggests something called Windows Mobility Center, and if I click on this extremely unintuitive name then one of the settings I can gain access to does adjust the volume. So they’ve replaced a menu system that worked well with a menu system that only works for some items via a search box. It’s nice to have the option of the search box when you can’t find what you want in the menu, but it’s nicer not to need to use it in the first place.
CoderSteve says
There’s another reason to improve on existing products instead of constantly throwing the baby out with the bathwater. So many instructions and helpful tips on the Web use the Control Panel.
Gimmy says
Thanks for this post !
Evil-Rat says
Windows 10 does work. But it has so many “wonderful “features” from Microsoft that are supposed to be “helpful”, “intuitive”, or some other marketing-speak word for “Things we DON’T want you to look to closely at because they might annoy you or even piss you off”.
I still haven’t gotten the whole Microsoft account / login being the SAME resolved, which means that I can’t download **ANY** apps -free or not- from Microsofts’ app store. Which means I end up looking for my apps from someplace else – which is exactly what Microsoft didn’t want me to do(I’m fairly certain).
Microsoft has created, in one single piece of software, both what might be the best OS and the most infuriating piece of software I have ever used. Since I play a LOT of games on my PC, you can be certain that I’ve used some real crapp-tastic software in the hunt for fun games.
admin says
Change the View by to List to see the list vertically.
Bill says
None of those methods opens the control panel in the “classical’ view, that is, with the choices to display the control panel items as “details” for example, so you can see them vertically, in alphabetical order, something which the brain trust at Microsoft didn’t want us to have for some stupid reason. Alphabetical order HORIZONTALLY is idiotic. Developers can NEVER leave well enough alone, they have the Midas touch in reverse. If I did this to my customers, I’d be out of a job.