7 Best Ways to Fix Control Panel Won’t Open in Windows 10

The Control Panel is an integral part of the Windows ecosystem as it carries most of the settings in Windows. But what happens when it refuses to open? Considering that most troubleshooting methods involve using the Control Panel, this can be quite a paradox.

Fortunately, there are other ways to get the Control Panel back up and running. And today we will talk about them. So let’s get straight to the point.

1. Update Windows

Before diving deep into the other solutions on this list, you should make sure your Windows is up to date. Chances are, there’s already an update waiting to be installed that fixes this issue.

To check for updates in Windows 10, launch Settings by pressing Windows key + I. Go to Update & Security > Windows update and click the Check for updates button on the right.

Once updated, go ahead and restart your computer and see if the Control Panel works fine now.

2. Run SFC Scan

Corrupted system files on your computer can create all sorts of problems, like preventing the Control Panel from opening. Fortunately, Windows carries a handy SFC (System File Checker) to find and repair these corrupt files in minutes. Here’s how to use it.

Stage 1: Open the start menu and type cmd Select ‘Run as administrator’ to open Command Prompt with Administrator rights.

Step 2: Type the command mentioned below and press Enter.

SFC /scannow

After the scan is complete, go ahead and restart your computer. Now try to open the Control Panel to see if the issue is resolved.

3. Check for Malware

Malware and viruses, as well as corrupted system files on your computer, can interfere with the processes on your PC. So, you can try to run a quick scan to make sure your PC is not infected by any malware.

For that, if you already have an Antivirus installed, use it. Or you can also use the built-in Windows Defender to perform a quick scan.

To do a quick scan using Windows Defender, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security.

Go to the ‘Virus and threat protection’ tab and click the ‘Quick scan’ button on your right to start scanning.

When finished, restart your computer to see if the problem has been resolved.

4. Change Screen Scaling

Oddly enough, the Control Panel seems to stop working when the screen scale is set to more than 100% on your PC. So you can try setting the Image Scale to 100% to see if it helps. Here’s how.

Stage 1: Press Windows Key + I to open Settings and go to System.

Step 2: On the Appearance tab, under Scale and layout, use the drop-down menu to select 100% from the list.

Now go ahead and try to open the Control Panel again.

5. Disable Windows Error Reporting Service

As the name suggests, the error reporting service in Windows was created to send alerts to Microsoft about any problem occurring on your computer. From time to time, this service has also been known to interfere with the launch of the Control Panel. So you can try temporarily disabling the service to see if it helps.

Stage 1: Press Windows Key + R to launch the Run box. Medicine msconfig in and press Enter.

Step 2: In the System Configuration window, switch to the Services tab. To find and uncheck ‘Windows Error Reporting Service’, scroll all the way down and click Apply.

Now restart your computer for the changes to take effect and see if you can now open the Control Panel.

6. Examine the Windows Registry

Some users have also reported that their Control Panel issues were resolved by deleting certain registry files from their computers.

Fair warning. Modifying or deleting registry files from computers can cause major problems. So be sure to back up your Registry files beforehand.

Stage 1: Open the start menu, type record editorand press Enter.

Step 2: Use the address bar at the top to navigate to the button below.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\LocalSettings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell

Stage 3: Expand the shell key and delete the BagMRU and Bags subkeys.

Now restart your computer and see if you can open the Control Panel now.

7. Try System Restore

You can try using System Restore in Windows 10 if the Control Panel issue has occurred quite recently. With this, you can get your computer back to a certain point before the problem first appeared.

Note that system restore is completely safe as there will be no data loss. However, you will lose any changes made to the system or settings.

Take Control

While Microsoft has gradually replaced the Control Panel in Windows with the Settings applet, the transition is not yet complete. Until then, the Control Panel remains at the center of all the main settings in Windows. I hope the above solutions worked and things are back to normal for you.