Published On:Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Posted by Albania
The three quickest ways to open the Control Panel in Windows 8
When I'm not blogging for CNET, I test and review laptops and desktops. During the getting-to-know process for each system I review, one of the places I usually stop by first is the Control Panel to tweak a setting or two before I start running benchmark tests. In the good old days of Windows 7 and XP, I simply clicked on the Start button and selected the Control Panel from the Start menu. With Windows 8, however, that path does not exist.
If you are a regular visitor to the Control Panel, you can always pin it to the Start menu so that it's only a tap away. (Open the Control Panel, move up a level in the folder hierarchy, right click on the Control Panel icon, and choose Pin to Start.)
From the desktop view, however, these actions are not available. Thankfully, there are three keyboard shortcuts that will grant you quick access to the Control Panel.
1. Windows key and the X key. This opens a menu in the lower-right corner of the screen, with Control Panel listed among its options.