Microsoft moves more settings away from the Control Panel on Windows 11

What you need to know

• Microsoft moved several options from the Control Panel to the Settings app in a recent Insider build of Windows 11.
• An ongoing process to move options to the Settings app began in Windows 8.
• Advanced sharing settings were moved to the Settings app in Windows 11 build 22509, which rolled out to Insiders in the Dev Channel on December 1, 2021.

Microsoft started shifting options from the Control Panel to the Settings app in Windows 8. The company has gradually moved settings away from the Control Panel since then. Quite a few options migrated over with the rollout of Windows 11, but a recent Insider build of Windows 11 moved a small handful of settings to the Settings app.

Microsoft outlined the changes in the release notes of Windows 11 build 22509, which came out on December 1, 2021. The moves garnered attention from several outlets over the last week:

• We have moved the advanced sharing settings (such as Network discovery, File and printer sharing, and public folder sharing) to a new page in Settings app under Advanced Network Settings.
• We've made some updates to the device specific pages under Printers & Scanners in Settings to show more information about your printer or scanner directly in Settings when available.
• Some of the entry points for network and devices settings in Control Panel will now redirect to the corresponding pages in Settings.

The Control Panel is a legacy part of Windows that has remained largely unchanged since its initial launch. The Settings app is a modern alternative that's generally simplified. In most cases, the Settings app is easier to use than the Control Panel. There have been instances in which a section within the Settings app lacks the more advanced features of its Control Panel equivalent.