If you find yourself frequently accessing the Windows Control Panel, why not put it where you can get to it the quickest? Right on the context menu.
Even with the new Settings interface taking over most of its duties, the old Control Panel is still a tool you’ll need to rely on pretty often. Sure, you can pin it to your taskbar—or even to your File Manager window—but having it right on your context menu means it’s always just a right-click away.
RELATED: How to Access the Old Control Panel in Windows 10 or Windows 8.x
Add Control Panel to the Context Menu by Editing the Registry Manually
To add Control Panel to the context menu, you just need to make a couple of quick edits in the Windows Registry.
Standard warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack and as long as you stick to the instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.
RELATED: Learning to Use the Registry Editor Like a Pro
Open the Registry Editor by hitting Start and typing “regedit.” Press Enter to open Registry Editor and give it permission to make changes to your PC.
In the Registry Editor, use the left sidebar to navigate to the following key:
Next, you’ll create a new key inside the shell key. Right-click the shell key and choose New > Key. Name the new key “Control Panel.” The name of this key is the name that will show up on the context menu.
Next, you’ll another new key, this time inside the new Control Panel key. Right-click the Control Panel key and choose New > Key. Name the new key “command.”
With the new command key selected in the left pane, double-click the (Default) value in the right pane to open its properties window.
In the properties window, enter the following text into the “Value data” box:
The changes should take place immediately. To test it out, just right-click anywhere on your desktop or in File Explorer and see if you see the “Control Panel” command.
If you want to reverse the changes at any time, just head back into the Registry and delete the Control Panel key you created. This will also delete the command key you created inside.
The real beauty of all this is that you can use the same basic procedure to add any program you want to your context menu. Just create a key named whatever you want inside the shell key, create a command key inside that new key, and then change the (Default) value of your new command key to the path for the program.
Download Our One-Click Registry Hacks
If you don’t feel like diving into the Registry yourself, we’ve created a couple of registry hacks you can use. The “Add Control Panel to Context Menu” hack creates the keys you need to add the “Control Panel” command. The “Remove Control Panel from Context Menu (Default)” hack deletes those keys, removing the command and restoring the default. Both hacks are included in the following ZIP file. Double-click the one you want to use and click through the prompts.
Control Panel Context Menu Hacks
RELATED: How to Make Your Own Windows Registry Hacks
These hacks are really just the shell key, stripped down to the new keys and values we talked about in the previous section and then exported to a .REG file. Running the hacks just creates or deletes the keys for adding the command to the context menu. And if you enjoy fiddling with the Registry, it’s worth taking the time to learn how to make your own Registry hacks.
