Create Classic Personalization Shortcut in Windows 10

If you are using Windows 10 for a while, you definitely know that the classic Personalization options were removed from the control panel. All options to personalize are now there in the Settings app, which is a Store app designed for touch screen users. If you are not satisfied by this new way to tune up your OS appearance, you might be interested in creating a special shortcut to open the classic Personalization dialog in Windows 10. In this article, we'll see how it can be done in detail.

As of this writing, recent Windows 10 releases still contain all working applets like Desktop background, window color, sounds, screen saver and the classic Personalization dialog. Microsoft just hides them from the classic Control Panel. They can be opened using appropriate commands.

Using those commands, it is easy to create a special shortcut to open any of the classic Personalization dialog windows. Let's see how it can be done.

To create the classic Personalization shortcut in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Right click the empty space on your Desktop. Select New - Shortcut in the context menu (see the screenshot).
2. In the shortcut target box, type or copy-paste the following command:

   explorer shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}

   

3. Use Personalization as the name of the shortcut. Actually, you can use any name you want. Click on the Finish button when done.
   
4. Now, right click the shortcut you created and select Properties.
5. On the Shortcut tab, you can specify a new icon if you wish. You can use the icon from the c:\windows\system32\desk.cpl file.
6. Click OK to apply the icon, then click OK to close the shortcut properties dialog window.

Now, double-click the shortcut you created. It will open the following window:

You can move this shortcut to any convenient location, pin it to taskbar or to Start, add to All apps or add to Quick Launch (see how to enable Quick Launch). You can also assign a global hotkey to your shortcut.

In recent Windows 10 builds, the Desktop Background  and Color links of the classic Personalization dialog open Settings instead of the classic applet.

Extra commands to open classic Personalization applets

To open the classic applets instead of Settings, use the following commands:

• Screensaver
  The following command can be used to open screensaver settings:

  rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,screensaver,@screensaver

  

• Sounds
  The following command can be used to open sounds preferences:

  rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL mmsys.cpl ,2

  

• Desktop Background

  Use the following command to open the Desktop Background settings:

  explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageWallpaper

  

• Desktop Icons
  To customize Desktop icons, run the following command:

  rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,0

  

• Window Color
  To open the familiar window color options, run the following command:

  explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageColorization

  

You can create extra shortcuts for each of the commands, so you will be able to access the classic applets.

Related articles:

• Add Personalization To Control Panel In Windows 10
• Add classic personalization Desktop menu in Windows 10

That's it.

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