To The Taskbar
The Control Panel in Windows 10 still houses many important settings which are not available in Settings. You can use Administrative tools, manage user accounts on the computer in a flexible way, maintain data backups, change the functionality of hardware and many other things. I would like to share a tip which can significantly speed up your access to frequently used Control Panel settings in Windows 10. You can also pin them inside the jump list to access them with just two clicks.
The Windows 10 taskbar sits at the bottom of the screen giving the user access to the Start Menu, as well as the icons of frequently used applications. On the right-side, the Taskbar features the Notification Area which informs the user of different things like the state of the Internet connection or the charge of the laptop battery. The Windows Taskbar is a handy place to have shortcuts because it's always visible when you use Windows.You can also pin favorite websites and even files (though pinning files takes a bit more effort).
Microsoft wants you to get used to the Settings app, because the classic Control Panel will be removed soon. However, there are lots of classic applets which still do not have their counterparts in the Settings app, so Control Panel is still very useful tool for every Windows 10 user.
Tip: See how to restore Control Panel items in Win+X menu in Windows 10 Creators Update (Redstone 2)
Pin Control Panel Applets to Taskbar in Windows 10
The first thing we need to do is to pin Control Panel to the taskbar. Here is how it can be done.
- Open Control Panel in Windows 10.
- Right click the Control Panel icon on the taskbar and choose 'Pin to taskbar'.
- Now, drag and drop your favorite applets from the Control Panel to its icon on the taskbar. The applet will be pinned to the jumplist of the Control Panel. See the following screenshot:
You will get your favorite settings in the jump list! This is very useful. You can pin the desired applets which you need most frequently to the top of the list to make them always visible regardless of how recently you used them.
Note: you can use this trick in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 too.
Pin individual Control Panel applets directly to the taskbar of Windows 10
Using the list of available shell commands, you can quickly pin your favorite classic Control Panel applets directly to the taskbar.
- Pick a shell command from the list provided here:
For example, I want to pin the Network connections folder. The shell command for the folder is as follows:
- Create a new Desktop shortcut using the following command as the shortcut target:
explorer.exe shell:::{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E} - Name your shortcut as you wish and specify the desired icon:
- Right click the shortcut you created and select 'Pin to taskbar':
- The applet is now pinned to the taskbar. You can safely remove the Desktop shortcut you created above.
That's it.
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The Windows 10 taskbar sits at the bottom of the screen giving the user access to the Start Menu, as well as the icons of frequently used applications. On the right-side, the Taskbar features the Notification Area which informs the user of different things like the state of the Internet connection or the charge of the laptop battery.
The icons in the middle of the Taskbar are “pinned” applications, which is a way to have a quick access to applications you use frequently. “Pinned” applications will stay in the Taskbar until you “unpin” them.
Pin an Application to the Taskbar
Step 1 − Search for the application you want to pin in the Start Menu.
Step 2 − Right-click on the application.
Step 3 − Select “More” option at the top of the menu.
Step 4 − Select the “Pin to taskbar” option.
On The Taskbar Icon
This will attach or “pin” the application icon to your Windows Taskbar.
Unpin an Application from the Taskbar
To “unpin” it, just right-click the icon in the Taskbar and select “Unpin from taskbar”. You can “pin” it back again any time you want.
How To Pin An Icon To The Taskbar
Notification Area
The Notification Area is located at the right side of the Taskbar. It shows different types of notifications from your computer like your Internet connection, or the volume level.
At first, the Notification Area shows a limited amount of icons. But you can click the upward arrow on its left-side to see other icons as well.
Task View
Task View allows you to quickly move within your open windows and applications. You can access it by clicking the “Task View” button from the Taskbar.
You can also press and hold the Windows key, and then press Tab to achieve the same result.
How To Add An Icon To The Taskbar
By pressing the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut also serves a similar purpose.