How to unlock Windows 10 secret settings

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The Windows 10 operating system has a lot of options for customization to suit your personal needs and preferences. Today we will consider another way to improve it without third-party programs and learn how to activate the secret capabilities of the OS.

Many users are aware of the Windows system registry, which stores entries about the settings and parameters of the OS. All this is hidden from users by default and encoded as special keys. Some of them are responsible for certain system functions, so editing certain registry lines will allow you to fine-tune the system.

The registry can be accessed through the Windows built-in Regedit editor. Not a single modern OS version can do without it. To use it, you need to click on the search bar on the taskbar or use the Win + S keyboard shortcut, enter the regedit command in the text field and run the program.

The editor is very easy to use. To open the required branch, you need to click once with the left mouse button on the corresponding cross or twice on the name itself. To create a new value or edit the current one, you need to right-click on the registry branch and select the corresponding item in the drop-down menu.

Before any operations with the registry, it is worth creating a backup copy. To do this, select the "File" → "Export" menu item in Regedit.

Dark theme

In addition to the familiar basic theme, Windows 10 has a built-in dark. To activate it, you need to find the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Themes branch in the registry. In it, you need to create a new record of type DWORD (and no other!) Called AppsUseLightTheme and set it to 0.

Then the operation must be repeated in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Themes section and the computer must be restarted. After rebooting, the system will get a dark theme. To return to light, you will need to delete both created keys.

Speed up startup

Operating systems of the Windows family are capable of loading very quickly. Braking is often caused by high default start-up delays (this is necessary to avoid slipping through some menus). To speed up the system boot, you need to find the HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer / Serialize branch in the registry (or create the corresponding branch at the specified address, if it is absent). There you need to create a DWORD value with the name StartupDelayInMSec and the value equal to 0. To return to the default settings, delete the Serialize folder.

System menu transparency

The Start Menu and Application Center can be made transparent by editing the corresponding registry values. These settings are stored at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer / Advanced. To make the menu transparent, you need to create a key here called UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency with type DWORD. The required key value is 1. To stop seeing the desktop, you need to delete an entry from the registry.

Disable screensaver

If the splash screen that appears on the computer login and password screen is already fed up, you can turn it off. To do this, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Policies / Microsoft / Windows / System branch and create a new value with the DWORD type and the name DisableLogonBackgroundImage. The required value is 1. After that, a page with a uniform fill will be shown on the start screen instead of a picture.

Hide OneDrive from File Manager

You can also go to the registry to hide the ubiquitous and most unused OneDrive in File Explorer. The corresponding branch is HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / CLSID {018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6} (it is better to use the search, so as not to be mistaken).

Here you need to find a key called System. IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree, open it by double-clicking the left mouse button and set the value to 0. This sequence of actions will hide the OneDrive icon from Explorer. If you need to find his folder, physically it will be in the same place, at C: / Users / \ OneDrive.

All these actions will take much less time than finding and installing a suitable system editor. Maybe you know of some other interesting ways to customize Windows 10 through the registry?