How to Show the Control Panel in File Explorer on Windows 10

In this tutorial, we are going to see how to show the Control Panel in File Explorer on Windows 10. If you use the Control Panel frequently, you can add it to “This PC” section of the Windows File Explorer window. Here’s how to do it.

While many important Windows controls are now part of the new Windows 10 settings interface, the old Control Panel is still present and important. We’ve shown you how to add it to your taskbar for quick access, but if you want, you can also make it appear in your File Explorer window with a simple Registry hack.
 

How to Show the Control Panel in File Explorer on Windows 10

To add the Control Panel to This PC section of File Explorer or to the My Computer section of Windows Explorer if you are using Windows 7, you need to add a new key for the Windows Registry.

Step 1: Right-click on the Start button, select Run.
 

 

 
Step 2: Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
 

 
Step 3: After that, navigate to the following Registry key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

 
Step 4: Now create a new key inside the NameSpace key. To do this, right click on the NameSpace folder, choose New > Key. Name it as follows:

{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}

If you want the Control Panel to open in icon mode, name the new key like this:

{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

 
You can now close the Registry Editor. You will not need to create any additional keys or values.

Step 5: Now open the File Explorer window and click on This PC in the left pane. You will then see the classic Control Panel shortcut icon. You can now pin it to the navigation pane for quick access.
 

 
If you want to undo the changes, go back to the registry and delete the new key you created. This will remove the Control Panel from the This PC section of File Explorer.