Microsoft has made a ton of changes to the Windows 10 operating system. With an attempt to make the OS more user friendly, they also ended up clearing out most of its features that some would say were useful. One of these excluded features was the control panel access present directly in the file explorer.
Microsoft has included a host of things that you can access by right-clicking on the start button. But the exclusion of control panel from the windows explorer is not a welcome change for many, especially for those who tweak around with folder options a lot. Having the control panel in the File Explorer will mean that you don’t need to go to search and look for control panel from there every time. There is a way to add the control panel to the file explorer, but a small tweak is required to the registry for this to happen. So let’s take a look at how to do that.
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How to add control panel in File Explorer in Windows 10?
As mentioned above, this process requires a registry file tweak. So you will have to edit the registry editor in Windows 10. This is not a risk-free procedure at all as a simple miss can lead to reinstalling Windows all over again. So follow the instructions given accordingly, and you should be fine. However, if you are worried about anything going wrong, then make sure to save a copy of your registry file in some other location. Also, set a recovery point before trying this method so that if anything goes wrong, then you can come back to that point.
- Click on the windows search bar down below and enter “regedit”. In the results section, you will see the registry editor. Open it up.
- Using the left-hand navigation bar in Regedit find this specific Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer
- Right-click on the NameSpace folder, select New and then select Key.
- Now you have to enter a CLSID code that will enable control panel in the file explorer. There are two CLSID codes for two types of control panel viewing, large icons view and small icons view.
- For large icons view of the Windows 10 control panel enter the following CLSID code:
{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}
- For small icons view of the Windows 10 control panel enter the following CLSID code:
{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
- Choose any one of these two CLSID codes according to your preference and then exit the registry editor.
Now open up the file explorer and under “Devices and drives” section, you will see the control panel icon. Clicking on it will take you to the control panel. You can even right-click on this icon and pin it to the quick access menu on the left side of the window or the start menu.
So that is how you quickly add control panel access directly in the File Explorer. Be sure to enter the code accordingly as a simple error may end up corrupting your registry and then you will have to install Windows 10 all over again.
If you have any questions or queries about this guide on adding control panel to the file explorer, then comment down below, and we will get back to you. Also, be sure to check out our other articles on iPhone tips and tricks, Android tips and tricks, PC tips and tricks, and much more for more useful information.