I have to say that it’s quite inconvenient in recent Windows 10 builds where Control Panel has been replaced by the Settings app in the Win + X menu. I thought it would be ok and I should get over it pretty soon but I kept going to the Start menu and searching for it because believe it or not, I still need to go there more often than I expected.
Yes, I can use this trick to replace the Settings icon with Control Panel in the Win+X menu. But it will keep getting reverted ever time a new build is released and updated on my computer. So, I ended up using an old school trick that pins Control Panel on the Taskbar so I can easily get access to it.
Simply open Control Panel, right-click its icon on the Taskbar and choose “Pin to taskbar.” It’s simple, easy, and sticks.
One other nice thing about having Control Panel pinned on the Taskbar is that you get to access the Jumplist where all your recently accessed Control Panel applets are listed. You can drag and drop the applet you often used onto the Control Panel taskbar icon to manually add it to its Jumplist. By this way, you can get to what you need to access even quicker than before.
When I do this, the icon on the Taskbar is Windows Explorer!!
Hi Kent. Unlike other icons, the Control Panel can’t be pinned to the Taskbar from the Desktop or Start. I used your method (which seems so obvious now that you enlightened me). Brilliant! Thank you, thank you, thank you…
thank you so much,, I was pulling out my hair, i had it pinned before but it disappeared so grateful to you so i can get it back!!