Did you know that each Control Panel applet in Windows can be opened by executing a specific command? It's true! You just have to know what that command is.

Sometimes it's easier, or maybe even in some cases necessary, to open an applet in the Control Panel from a command line in Windows. For example, if you're building a script or software program that needs to open an applet, these little tricks help.

Lifewire / Kyle Fewel

More common, however, is a situation where your computer is misbehaving in a certain way that prevents you from navigating around like usual, leaving you with no way to open Control Panel normally, which you likely need to do to solve the issue! Frustrating, we know.

Often times, however, these situations still allow the execution of a command. That's where it's very handy to have the list of Control Panel command line tricks shown in the giant table below.

Start by opening Command Prompt, or even just the Run box (WIN+R keyboard shortcut). Once open, execute, exactly as shown below, the command that corresponds with the Control Panel applet you want to open. It's as easy as that.

See our List of Control Panel Applets in Windows for Control Panel applet descriptions and information about changes in applets between the Windows operating systems.

"The" Control Panel Command

Maybe you don't want to open a specific Control Panel applet from Command Prompt, or the Run box, but instead you want Control Panel itself to open...the Control Panel "home page" so to speak.

This is as easy as executing control from a command line in any version of Windows. Don't add anything after it—just control by itself.

Control Panel will open just as it does when you do all the clicking or tapping you usually do to open it normally.

Control Panel Command Line Commands in Windows

CMD Commands for Control Panel Applets