As Windows 10 evolves you can notice more and more aspects of the system are transformed. The most popular desktop OS is slowly moving ahead of the traditional design to a more modern look. As a result, Microsoft has moved huge chunks of the old Control Panel to the new, modern Settings app. You may like it or not but you can’t disagree that navigating to specific destinations in the new app is just as tedious if not more. The Windows 10 settings app is at least not as confusing as the control panel. Thanks to a simple extension by Lucas (@Whistler4Ever), you can create one-click desktop shortcuts for the most popular settings pages.

You might prefer having the Windows 10 settings you use frequently as desktop shortcuts. This can be done using URI. A URI or Uniform Resource Identifier is a string of characters used to identify the name of a resource. So if you know the URI for each setting, you can create its desktop shortcut. Or you can edit the Windows Registry and add it to the context menu.

These usually begin with ms-settings, followed by a colon and the page you want to jump to. For instance, ms-settings: takes you straight to the main page on the Settings app. Similarly, ms-settings:batterysaver-settings will take you to the battery-saver settings page as you expect. Navigate to Settings > System > Battery and do the following.

Table of Content

Create desktop shortcuts for various settings

  1. Right-click or tap and hold any blank place on the Windows 10 Desktop.
  2. Choose New > Shortcut. create shortcut windows 10
  3. Enter a valid ms-settings command below and type it into the input box. For example, to go to the Data Usage app, type ms-settings:datausagein the box marked Type the location of the item. ms settings
  4. Click Next, give the shortcut a name, and click Finish. It would be a good idea to give it a descriptive name so you know what the shortcut is for. data usage shortcut
  5. Double-clicking that shortcut takes you to the page immediately, with no intermediate steps. windows settings shortcut

Valid URIs for various Windows 10 settings

MSDN has listed the URIs that target specific settings apps in Windows 10. This table lists the URIs you can use to display built-in settings pages in Windows 10.

Settings page App used for the shortcut
Accessibility
Closed captioning ms-settings:easeofaccess-closedcaptioning
High contrast ms-settings:easeofaccess-highcontrast
Keyboard ms-settings:easeofaccess-keyboard
Magnifier ms-settings:easeofaccess-magnifier
Mouse ms-settings:easeofaccess-mouse
Narrator ms-settings:easeofaccess-narrator
Other options ms-settings:easeofaccess-otheroptions
Battery and power
Battery Saver ms-settings:batterysaver
Battery Saver settings ms-settings:batterysaver-settings
Battery use ms-settings:batterysaver-usagedetails
Power and sleep ms-settings:powersleep
Display and user interface
Backgrounds ms-settings:personalization-background
Colors (display) ms-settings:colors
Colors (personaliation) ms-settings:personalization-colors
Date and time ms-settings:dateandtime
Display ms-settings:display
Mouse and touchpad ms-settings:mousetouchpad
Personalization ms-settings:personalization
Region and language ms-settings:regionlanguage
Screen rotation ms-settings:screenrotation
Speech ms-settings:speech
Start ms-settings:personalization-start
Themes ms-settings:themes
Typing ms-settings:typing
Network and radios
Airplane mode ms-settings:network-airplanemode
Bluetooth ms-settings:bluetooth
Cellular ms-settings:network-cellular
Data usage ms-settings:datausage
Dialup ms-settings:network-dialup
DirectAccess ms-settings:network-directaccess
Ethernet ms-settings:network-ethernet
Manage Wi-Fi ms-settings:network-wifisettings
Mobile hotspot ms-settings:network-mobilehotspot
Proxy ms-settings:network-proxy
Wi-Fi ms-settings:network-wifi
VPN ms-settings:network-vpn
Other
For developers ms-settings:developers
Offline maps ms-settings:maps
Optional features ms-settings:optionalfeatures
Privacy
Account info ms-settings:privacy-accountinfo
Calendar ms-settings:privacy-calendar
Camera ms-settings:privacy-webcam
Contacts ms-settings:privacy-contacts
Feedback ms-settings:privacy-feedback
Location ms-settings:privacy-location
Messaging ms-settings:privacy-messaging
Microphone ms-settings:privacy-microphone
Motion ms-settings:privacy-motion
Other devices (privacy) ms-settings:privacy-customdevices
Privacy ms-settings:privacy
Radios ms-settings:privacy-radios
Speech, inking, and typing ms-settings:privacy-speechtyping
System and user
Connected devices ms-settings:connecteddevices
Family and other users ms-settings:otherusers
Lockscreen ms-settings:lockscreen
Notifications and actions ms-settings:notifications
Proximity ms-settings:proximity
Signin options ms-settings:signinoptions
Storage Sense ms-settings:storagesense
Tablet mode ms-settings://tabletmode/
Windows Update ms-settings:windowsupdate
Work access ms-settings:workplace

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