The Win+X Menu is a context menu that pops up when you right-click the Start button or press a quick keyboard shortcut Win + X. It’s a springboard that provides a quick way of performing advanced system functions. Since the most of the commands there are made for the power users, I also called this menu the Power User Menu.
Since Windows 10 Build 14942, Microsoft replaced the Control Panel icon in Win+X Menu with the Settings icon, indicating that the long-lived Control Panel is on its way out, whether you like or not.
As we covered before here, the commands listed in the menu are the shortcuts (.lnk) files stored in each group folder located at %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\WinX. The Control Panel icon is stored in Group2 folder, like below:
To replace Settings with Control Panel in Win+X menu, you will need to copy the original icon from a computer that runs a version of Windows 10 prior to 14942 and paste it into the following folder:
%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group2
Then, close File Explorer and restart Windows Explorer process in Task Manager. Or simply do a cycle of log off and log-back-in.
If you are obsessed with the change and would like to have the Settings icon to replace the Control Panel icon in Win+X menu in an older version of Windows 10, copy the new Settings icon from a computer that runs 14942 and paste into the same location stated above. And again, restart the Windows Explorer or log off and log back in.
Furthermore, if you do a clean install of 14942 using the ISO, there are more icons in the Win+X menu that point to the Settings app, for example,
- Programs and Features
- Power Options
- System
- Network Connections
If you would like to replace these icons with the original Control Panel items, you may want to use this free portable tool called Win+X Menu Editor which allows you to not only modify the current items in the Win+X menu but add new ones as well.
