Windows has a huge number of settings that you can tweak to customize how Windows works. However, changing these settings is not the easiest thing to do. Most of these need to be configured using the Control Panel, which can be found by choosing Start> Control Panel.
While the control panel is a good tool, it can be difficult to use at times. For the most part, when using the control panel, you have to switch between different windows to customize everything. Sometimes it can also be difficult to find the specific setting you are looking for. For example, I wrote an entire article on how to set up the Network and Sharing Center.
Additionally, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 have two places to configure settings: through the Control Panel and through the Settings app.
However, there is another way to customize settings on a Windows computer that provides all the customization options in one place: God Mode or the Main Control Panel. No one really knows exactly why it’s called God Mode, because it’s just a list of all the possible settings in one place and you don’t need to call it God Mode!
To get to this main control panel, you need to first create a new folder on your desktop. To do this, right-click on the desktop to open an additional menu. From the secondary menu, choose New> Folder. This will add a default folder to the desktop which will be named “New Folder” or “New Folder 2” etc.
Then you need to change the name of the new folder you just created. First copy the text below that starts with GodMode. (E…}. Now right click on the folder and select Rename.
GodMode. {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Paste this text as the folder name and press Enter. The folder should now change from an empty default folder icon to a control panel icon named GodMode. Note that you can change this start text to whatever you want, it doesn’t have to be GodMode.
Double click the icon to open it. You will notice that it looks like a control panel window, with all the options in a list format. It’s a great way to see all the available Windows settings in one place.
You can now navigate to a specific setting and tweak it easily without going through a bunch of different Windows. Clicking on the list in the God Mode window will take you directly to the configuration page.
Note that everything in the main dashboard can also be found in the regular dashboard by searching. Below I have shown the search results in GodMode and in the regular Control Panel. As you can see, you get the same results.
The main convenience of GodMode is that you can see all the settings without knowing what to look for. This was useful on a number of occasions because I didn’t know exactly what word to search for, but I was able to find the setting when scrolling through the list.
Again, this little trick works on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. If you have questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!
–