Although the Settings app is the experience that replaces Control Panel in Windows 10, you still need to get to the old Control Panel as not every setting has been migrated to the new experience.
The only issue is that on the effort to get you used to use the new Settings app, Windows 10 has been removing ways to open Control Panel. However, it’s still possible to access this experience in a number of ways when you need to configure a feature on the OS that isn’t available in the Settings app.
In this guide, you’ll learn a number of ways to open the old Control Panel experience on Windows 10.
How to open Control Panel
While there are still available a number of ways to open the old experience to change the settings on Windows 10, here a list with the most common steps to get to Control Panel.
Using the Start menu
The easiest way to open Control Panel is using the Start menu.
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Open Start.
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Type Control Panel.
Control Panel search on Start menu -
Click the result to open the experience.
Alternatively, you can find Control Panel in the App list.
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Open Start.
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Scroll down the App list and click Windows System.
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Click on Control Panel to open the experience.
Windows System on Start menu
Using the Run command
You can also use the Run command to open the old experience.
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Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
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Type Control Panel.
Control Panel on Run command -
Click OK to launch the experience.
Creating a shortcut
It’s also possible to create a shortcut to open Control Panel on Windows 10 from virtually anywhere.
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Right-click an empty space on the desktop.
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Select New and click on Shortcut.
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Type the following path and click Next.
%systemdrive%\Windows\System32\control.exe
Shortcut to Control Panel -
Type a descriptive name for the shortcut, such as Control Panel.
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Click Finish.
Once you completed the steps, simply double-click the shortcut to open the experience.
On every version of Windows, there is also something called “GodMode,” which is a way to access a hidden list with all the settings available on Control Panel. You can check this guide on how to enable GodMode on Windows 10.
Using Settings
You may have not noticed, but you can also access Control Panel from the Settings app.
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Open Settings (Windows key + I).
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Type the feature you want to configure in the search box and press Enter.
Windows Settings search -
Click the result you want to open Control Panel.
Windows Setting search result
The ability to get to Control Panel is possible, because not every option is yet configurable using the Settings app, but the new experience somehow needs to offer a way to access all settings.
It should be noted that starting with the Creators Update, Windows 10 removes access to Control Panel using the Power User menu (Windows key + X).
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].