Windows 10 power tips: Secret shortcuts to your favorite settings

Are you tired of clicking through categories to find a specific Windows 10 setting? If you know the right commands, you can create shortcuts that take you to specific pages with a single click. Ed Bott shares this trick, along with dozens of commands that will take you to the Settings pages you need to visit.

From the download:

As Windows 10 has evolved, Microsoft has moved huge chunks of the old Control Panel to the new, modern Settings app. But navigating to specific destinations in the new app can be just as tedious as it was in the olden days.

Fortunately, there's a way to create one-click shortcuts for most popular settings pages using commands that begin with ms-settings, followed by a colon and the name of the page you want to jump to.

For example, ms-settings:network-status takes you to the first page in the Network & Internet category, where you can check the status of your network adapter and find shortcuts to virtually all other network settings.

Likewise, ms-settings:windowsupdate-history takes you straight to the page that lists all updates you've installed. Normally, you'd have to click Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View Installed Update History to get there.

Of course, typing that long command at a command prompt or in the Run dialog box makes no sense at all compared to searching or clicking for that setting. But you can use that command to create a shortcut on the desktop or another favorite location so it's always available.