In other windows 10 installations I could see a control panel button when right-clicking on the start menu.
In my current one what I see is this:
How do I go about adding a control panel button to this menu using only the standard Windows options?
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It was removed since the Creators update. There is software available to edit the right-click menu to add it back yourself.– LPChipJun 17, 2017 at 19:22
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@LPChip That's good enough for an answer if you ask me. Ideally you'd give an official reference to the removal of the button, but it's up to you.– Git GudJun 17, 2017 at 19:42
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This has been asked before here on SuperUser, but a quick search didn't gave me that post.– LPChipJun 17, 2017 at 19:45
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Maybe I found it on another website now that I think of it. Anyway here's a link on how to use the registry to get it back. I don't have time to write an answer currently.: pcworld.com/article/3196807/windows/…– LPChipJun 17, 2017 at 19:51
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@LPChip I'm OK with "it can't be done", to be honest. I edited my question to make this a correct answer. It can always be done, even if one has to build an app specifically for this purpose, but I was looking for a more simple answer using only a few clicks.– Git GudJun 17, 2017 at 20:09
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6 Answers
This is what I do:
- Open Windows Powershell command prompt
- Paste the following code snippet
This usually does the trick.
$path = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group2"
$x = "UEsDBBQAAAAIAEphSkmJ5YBS0QAAAPcDAAARAAAAQ29udHJvbCBQYW5lbC5sbmvzYWBgYBRhYgCBA2CSwa2B
mQEiQAAwovEnAzEnA8MCXSBtGBwQ/Kgrwm2Pj4Xz7j/Ck9Vm5J4ThCkURtIEUxyq4TO/cr6l94oLD6/oPrz6GaRYCK
aYEU1xtW7v74sTTPz2J+St4ZykvR+kmAmm+Og13laY6SLMYM0LVMsz81Iyi1RjiiuLS1JzjY1ikvPzSoryc/RSK1KJ
8eswAKoM5QyZDHkMKUCyCMiLYShmqATiEoZUhlwGYwYjoEgyQz5QRQlQPp8hh0EPKFPBMFLCZyQBAFBLAQIUABQAAA
AIAEphSkmJ5YBS0QAAAPcDAAARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABDb250cm9sIFBhbmVsLmxua1BLBQYAAAAAAQABAD8A
AAAAAQAAAAA=".replace("`n","")
[Convert]::FromBase64String($x) | Set-Content $path\temp.zip -Encoding Byte
Expand-Archive $path\temp.zip -DestinationPath $path
Remove-Item $path\temp.zip
Stop-Process -Name Explorer
The gibberish in the $x variable is the base64 encode shortcut file to the Control Panel, which this script writes to the appropriate folder, after which it restarts the Windows Explorer process.
Another advantage of this method, is that I can use this script in automated box building process, etc, that is it does not have to be run interactively.
answered Aug 13, 2017 at 5:18
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The main improvement that I can see for this is to create the shortcut with powershell instead of using a (potentially untrusted and malicious) ZIP file... See here Aug 6, 2018 at 10:49
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2@GertvandenBerg, sure, please do not hesitate to post your answer, once you've got it working. Thanks! Aug 6, 2018 at 10:52
Steps:
- Open Windows File Explorer.
Copy paste the following in the address bar:
%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\WinXBy default, there are three groups (folders) there viz Group1, Group2, and Group3. By default, shortcut of Control Panel resides in Group2. So you need to paste a shortcut of Control Panel there.
Restart your computer.
answered Jun 18, 2017 at 0:03
It looks like you got the update to the Creators Update of Windows 10 v1703 - Build 15063 (run winver.exe to verify this).
You should use the Win+X Menu Editor to edit the entries and add control panel back.
answered Jun 18, 2017 at 7:13
Starting with Andrew's answer, I had to add -Force to the line 3rd from the bottom. So it looks like this:
Expand-Archive $path\temp.zip -Force -DestinationPath $path
Control Panel has been restored.
using the keyboard shortcut Win+R and typing Control Panel does bring up the windows 7 control panel
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-1 because it doesn't answer the question. Yes its a work-around, but in terms of accomplishing the task, requires 3 times the action and two hands (o) and (n) are on the right half of the qwerty keyboard meaning taking hand off the mouse, to type normally, then putting back on the mouse to select the wanted applet within the control panel.– TG2Jan 6, 2020 at 17:13
How about if you use
Win+I
Doesn't that take you to an equivalent menu you want to use?
Also if you hit
Win+R
and type in
control panel
If you also have autocomplete on, then you should be able to get to the control panel by just pressing 4 buttons on the keyboard. That's how I work too
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