Advertisement

Create Control Panel Shortcut in Windows 10

In Window 10, you can create a Control Panel shortcut. This will allow you to open the Control panel directly from the right-click menu of the Desktop. It is possible to make it open in the desired view like large icons, small icons or category icons. Here is how it can be done.

Advertisеment


In Windows 10, the ability to quickly open the Control Panel has been eliminated. The button to open it from the Ribbon user interface was replaced with Settings. While many options in the classic Control Panel are currently available in Settings, the Control Panel still has dozens of exclusive applets which have not been not ported yet to the modern Settings app. As of this writing, the classic Control Panel still comes with a number of options and tools which are not available in Settings. It has a familiar user interface which many users prefer over the Settings app.

Previously, I wrote how to add a useful Control Panel context menu in Windows 10. Some users do not like to tweak the operating system using Registry, so shortcuts for them are more suitable.

To create the Control Panel shortcut in Windows 10, do the following.
Right click the empty space on your Desktop. Select New - Shortcut in the context menu (see the screenshot).

In the shortcut target box, type or copy-paste one of the following commands.
To open the Control panel in the default (last used) view:

control.exe

Control Panel Shortcut Default View Control Panel Default View

To open the Control panel in the Category view:

explorer.exe shell:::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}

Control Panel Category View Shortcut

Control Panel (Icons view):

explorer.exe shell:::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

Control Panel Icon View Shortcut Control Panel Icon View

To open the Control panel in the All Tasks view, which is also known as "God Mode", use this command:

explorer.exe shell:::{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Control Panel All Tasks View Shortcut

Control Panel All Tasks View

Use the line "Control Panel" without quotes as the name of the shortcut. Actually, you can use any name you want.

Any Name Shortcut Windows 10
Click on the Finish button when done.

Right-click the shortcut you have created and choose Properties in the context menu.

Control Panel Shortcut Properites Context Menu

On the shortcut tab, click the button Change icon and select the following icon from the %windir%\System32\imageres.dll file.

Control Panel Shortcut Change Icon

Now, 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.

Support us

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:

If you like this article, please share it using the buttons below. It won't take a lot from you, but it will help us grow. Thanks for your support!

Advertisеment

Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

5 thoughts on “Create Control Panel Shortcut in Windows 10”

  1. I would like to know how to replace the Settings shortcut in File Explorer’s ribbon with Control Panel. Thanks.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

css.php
Using Telegram? Subscribe to the blog channel!
Hello. Add your message here.