The Windows 11 Settings app, explained section by section

Windows 11 rebuilt Settings around a permanent sidebar and moved several familiar pages in the process. Here is what each section owns and what still lives in Control Panel.

The sidebar replaced the tile grid

Windows 10 showed a grid of category tiles and sent you back to that grid every time you changed subject. Windows 11 keeps the categories in a permanent left sidebar and adds a breadcrumb trail across the top, so you always know how deep you are.

The sidebar order is System, Bluetooth & devices, Network & internet, Personalization, Apps, Accounts, Time & language, Gaming, Accessibility, Privacy & security, and Windows Update. Newer builds add a Home page above them with cards for recent and recommended controls. Both layouts are browsable on the Windows hub.

System, devices and network

System is the largest category. It holds display, sound, notifications, focus, power and battery, storage, nearby sharing, multitasking, activation, troubleshooting and recovery. Reset this PC now lives under System rather than under Update, which trips up almost everyone arriving from Windows 10.

Bluetooth & devices covers pairing, printers, mouse, touchpad, pen and AutoPlay, so pairing a device starts there. Network & internet handles Wi-Fi, ethernet, VPN, mobile hotspot and proxy, and is the modern route to joining a network.

Personalization, Apps and Accounts

Personalization owns background, colours, themes, lock screen, Start, taskbar and text input. The light and dark switch sits inside Colours, which the dark mode guide covers.

Apps replaced the old Apps & features page with Installed apps, and adds default apps, startup apps, optional features and advanced app settings. Accounts holds your Microsoft or local account, sign-in options including Windows Hello and PIN, family, other users, Windows backup, and access to work or school accounts.

Time, Gaming, Accessibility, Privacy and Update

Time & language covers date and time, region, language packs, typing and speech, and is where you change the display language. Gaming holds Game Bar, captures and Game Mode. Accessibility replaced Ease of Access and groups the vision, hearing and interaction tools.

Privacy & security combines Windows Security, device encryption or BitLocker, Find my device and the long list of app permissions. Windows Update sits last in the sidebar with update history, pause, advanced options and the Insider channel, as described in the update guide.

What Control Panel still owns

Control Panel has not gone away. Device Manager, Disk Management, File Explorer Options, Credential Manager, advanced network adapter properties, advanced power plan options, the full sound device panel and advanced regional formats still open the older interface, sometimes launched from a link inside Settings itself.

Microsoft has been migrating these page by page across releases, so a control that needed Control Panel on the first Windows 11 build may have a modern page today. When a written instruction sends you somewhere that no longer exists, check Settings first.

Finding a setting fast

The search box sits at the top of the sidebar and the same index answers from Start. It matches individual control names rather than only category names, so typing a phrase such as startup apps or device encryption goes straight to the page that owns it.

If you are moving between platforms, the macOS and Windows comparison lines the sections up, and the much older layout is preserved on the Windows 7 hub. To walk the whole tree without a Windows machine in front of you, open Windows 11 Settings in the simulator.