On Windows 10, you can reset the Settings app when it doesn’t want to open, keeps crashing, or is experiencing other problems, and in this guide, you’ll learn how.
The Settings app is the new immersive experience that replaces the classic Control Panel, and you use it daily to customize almost every aspect of the desktop experience, control apps, and change system settings. However, since it’s an app built into Windows 10, it does not always work as expected. Sometimes, the app won’t launch, you won’t be able to access specific pages, or it’ll suddenly crash, among other problems.
If you’re dealing with a similar problem, Windows 10 includes at least two ways to reset the Settings app using the built-in secret option.
This guide will teach you the steps to reset the Settings app when it’s not working as expected on Windows 10. (You can also watch the video tutorial on how to complete this task.)
Reset Windows 10 Settings app from App settings
To reset the Windows 10 Settings app when not working, use these steps:
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Open Start on Windows 10.
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Search for Settings, right-click the top result, and select the App settings option.
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Click the Reset button.
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Click the Reset button again.
Once you complete the steps, the app will reset the components, delete the data, and close automatically, fixing the most common problems with the experience.
Although these instructions can help resolve many common problems, resetting won’t make a difference until the app receives an update if you’re dealing with crashes or issues due to a bug, then resetting won’t make a difference until the app receives an update.
On Windows 10 build 20175, Microsoft also introduced the “Get-AppxPackage *Windows.ImmersiveControlPanel* | Reset-AppxPackage” command. However, later on, build 20175 became part of the Windows 11 project, so the “Reset-AppxPackage” option never made it to Windows 10. You can only use it to reset the Settings app on Windows 11.
If you use the command on Windows 10, you will get this error message: “Reset-AppXPackage: The term ‘Reset-AppXPackage’ is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.”
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].