How to open Control Panel in Windows 10

How to open Control Panel in Windows 10: When working on a computer, there are situations when the user needs to open the Control Panel in Windows 10 to make settings for the operating system. The question arises, where is the Control Panel in Windows 10, because now it is not so easy to find a desktop application.

The fact is that Microsoft, the developer of the Windows 10 operating system, is gradually removing the Control Panel application from the system. The Settings application, where all functions for system management are gradually moving, is becoming a replacement for the classic control panel.

For example, the “Control Panel” item is no longer in the “Start” right-click context menu, so finding the application is not always easy and obvious.

In the “Settings” application, there are not yet all the system settings, it can be unclear where to look for the desired option. The control panel is still in demand, so users have questions about how to find the control panel in Windows 10.

The Control Panel contains the necessary tools for configuring the settings of the Windows operating system. From here you can get quick access to the necessary functions and tools.

In this article, you will learn where the control panel is located in Windows 10, get instructions for opening the desktop application in many ways: enabling the tool by running commands, several ways to create an icon or shortcut for the application to launch, located in a convenient location.

Almost all the methods described in this guide, except for those directly related to the features of the Windows 10 interface, work on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 operating systems.

How to open Control Panel in Windows 10 from the Run window

First, let’s look at how to launch the Control Panel by executing a command from the Run dialog box.

1. Press the keyboard keys “Win” + “R”.
2. In the “Run” window, in the “Open” field, enter the command “control” or “control panel” (without quotes).
3. Press the “Enter” key.

After that, the Control Panel window will open.

For the convenience of the user, you can switch the display mode of the panel. In the View option, select one of the options: Category, Large Icons, or Small Icons.

How to open Control Panel in Windows 10 from the search

A fairly simple way to launch the control panel is to use the search function in the Windows 10 operating system. With this method, you can not only launch the application, but also select options to more conveniently open the control panel on your computer in the future.

1. On the Taskbar, click the search icon (magnifying glass).
2. In the “Enter search text here” field, write “control panel” (without quotes).
3. The best match will open in the search results: the classic Control Panel app.

Open the application by clicking on the search result, or click “Open” in the additional information area.

Expand the list to see the different options that you can apply to your desktop app:

• Open – launches the control panel.
• Go to File Location – Opens a folder with a shortcut to launch Control Panel.
• Pin to Start – Pin the Control Panel to the Start screen in the Start menu.
• Pin to taskbar – Pin the control panel to the taskbar.

Navigating to the file location will open a File Explorer window with a Control Panel shortcut. You can copy the shortcut to the Desktop or to another folder to make it easier to launch the Control Panel.

Once the Control Panel is pinned to the Start screen, a Control Panel tile will appear in the Start menu. After clicking on the tile, the application starts.

In order for the Windows control panel to always be at hand, you need to pin the desktop application to the taskbar. After that, you can quickly launch the application by clicking on its icon in the taskbar.

How to open Control Panel in Windows 10 from the Start Menu

Not everyone knows that it is possible to launch the control panel from the Start menu. Microsoft has removed the Start Menu Control Panel from the right-click menu, but it has remained in Utilities.

You can still access the desktop app from the list of installed programs in the Start menu:

1. Click on the start menu with the left mouse button.
2. Scroll down the list of programs to the System – Windows folder.
3. Launch the application.

How to launch Control Panel from Command Prompt in Windows 10

One of the options for opening the control panel is to run a command from the Command Prompt utility.

1. Start a command line, enter the command “control” (without quotes).
2. Press the “Enter” key.

How to open Control Panel in Windows 10 in Windows PowerShell

In Windows 10, at default settings, instead of the command line, the Windows PowerShell system tool is displayed, which is recommended to be used instead of the Windows command line.

1. Right click on the start menu.
2. Select “Windows PowerShell” from the menu that opens.
3. In the Windows PowerShell window, type “control” (without the quotes) and then press the “Enter” key.

Launching the Control Panel application from the Windows system folder

The control panel can be launched directly from the Windows system folder. This method can be used if other options for launching the application do not work on the computer.

Open File Explorer, follow the path:

C:\Windows\System32

From the “System32” folder, run the “control.exe” application.

How to Create an Icon to Launch Control Panel in Windows 10 Settings

Now we will create an icon to launch the control panel from the operating system settings.

1. Enter the Start menu, launch the Settings app.
2. Open the Personalization option.
3. Enter the “Themes” section, and in the “Related Options” option, click on the “Desktop Icon Options” link.
4. In the “Desktop Icon Options” window, in the “Desktop Icons” tab, check the box next to “Control Panel”.
5. Click on the “OK” button.

Create an Application Shortcut on the Desktop

Now we will create a shortcut to launch the Control Panel on the Desktop or in any other convenient folder.

1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop.
2. Select “Shortcut” from the context menu.
3. In the “Create shortcut” window that opens, in the “Specify the location of the object:” field, enter “control” (without quotes), click on the “Next” button.
4. In the next window, in the “Enter a shortcut name:” field, add any name, for example, “Control Panel”, and then click on the “Finish” button.

A shortcut will appear on the desktop with which you can launch the control panel.

Launching the Control Panel using hotkeys

In order not to click on the application shortcut with the mouse, the control panel can be launched using keyboard shortcuts.

1. Create a desktop shortcut using the same method as above.
2. Right-click on the shortcut, in the context menu, click on the “Properties” item.
3. In the “Properties: Control Panel” window, in the “Shortcut” tab, left-click in the “Shortcut” field.
4. Press the keys that will serve to launch the application.

You should now be able to open the Control Panel window using the keyboard keys.

Opening the Control Panel from File Explorer

You can open the Control Panel directly in Windows Explorer. You can do this in the following way:

1. Type “control” into the File Explorer address bar, and then press the “Enter” key.
2. The Control Panel opens on the computer desktop.

Article Conclusions

Microsoft, the developer of Windows 10, is gradually removing elements of the classic control panel from the operating system, instead using the Settings app. Many system functions are still in the Control Panel app. The article tells you how to open the control panel in Windows 10 in different ways: from the system settings, after executing commands, by creating an icon or shortcut to launch an application.