An essential in the older versions of your operating system, Microsoft has gradually taken the role of the Control Panel in recent Windows updates. There will be those who do not miss it, but you can still open Control Panel in Windows 11 in just a few seconds, and get the most out of it.
As we said, slowly this section has been displaced by the people of Redmond, covering its absence with others who try to provide us with the same solutions, but with the advantage that they have not eliminated it completely. Still. In fact, at the time we taught you to add Control Panel to File Explorer in Windows 10.
Ways to open the Control Panel in Windows 11
As we said, if you want to change the settings in Windows 11, normally what you will do is look for the Settings application, but the old and reliable Control Panel still plays an important role.
The problem, if anything, is that we don’t know how to open it in Windows 11, but there are several ways to do it.
Using the Start menu
One of the easiest ways to start the Control Panel, and our preferred one, is through the Start menu. You only have to go to the Taskbar, type «Control Panel» and click in the corresponding result. After a few seconds, you will have the Control Panel open on your PC.
Some think that Windows 11 Taskbar worse than Windows 10, but you can still take advantage of it.
Using the Run menu
Another option is, on the Taskbar, write Run, and in that run box, write Control and hit Enter. Eventually, the alternative way to bring up the Run box is by pressing the Win + R key combination. It may not make much sense to add one more step, but it is important that you know how to do it both ways.
Using Command Prompt
Finally, you can open the Control Panel from the Command Prompt or the Windows terminal, typing “Control” and pressing Enter, exactly the same as in the Run dialog box.
You can start different services from the Command Prompt, and this is just one of them.
And how to have the Control Panel always accessible?
If you are going to require the Control Panel occasionally, the above little tricks may be enough. But If you are going to need it on a daily basis, it is best to always leave it accessible. There are two methods to do it.
Pin it to Taskbar
Once you have opened the Control Panel through any of the previous proposals, and you have it open, you will see its icon in the Taskbar, which will give you the opportunity to leave it there, set by default.
You just have to right click on the icon and select Pin to Taskbar.
The next time you want to go to the Control Panel, you will only click on the icon in the Taskbar.
And if you want to unpin it, you right click on the icon and Unpin from the Taskbar.
Add an icon to the Desktop
If you have the Taskbar too overloaded and you prefer to give it a break, you can add a Control Panel icon to the Desktop, so that it is accessible to you as well and do not depend on the previous tricks.
You have to press Windows + I to open Settings and, once in it, go to Personalization and Themes. You will enter Settings from the desktop icon and in the window that opens, mark the Control Panel and OK.
Automatically, the Control Panel icon will appear on the Desktop, at your disposal when you need it.
