Win+I: straight into Settings

“Where on earth is that setting?” is a question nearly everyone asks themselves in Windows — settings are split across dozens of categories and subcategories, and clicking through them is slow even for experienced users. Search instead of click, and you'll skip the long menu wandering entirely.

A typical scenario

A coworker asks how to turn on night light on their computer so their eyes hurt less in the evening. The classic route means opening Settings from the Start menu, clicking System, then Display, and only then finding the right toggle — three or four clicks, none of them exactly obvious unless you already know exactly where each option is hiding.

With Win + I, Settings opens instantly, and typing “night light” into the search box at the top is enough — the first result leads straight to the toggle, no need to know it lives under System and Display. The same approach works for any other option — the coworker gets their answer in a few seconds instead of a minute of wandering through menus.

How to do it

1. Press Win + I — Windows Settings opens instantly, from anywhere in the system.
2. Type what you're looking for into the search box at the top of the window — even part of the name is enough, like “night light,” “bluetooth,” or “default browser.”
3. Search offers results as you type, so usually just the first few letters are enough for the option you're after to show up in the list.
4. Clicking a result takes you straight to the specific toggle or page, no need to click through parent categories manually.
5. If search doesn't find exactly what you're looking for, try a different term — Windows sometimes names features differently than you'd expect, and the term you're searching for might be called something slightly different than you know it as.
6. The left sidebar in Settings stays visible even after searching — if a neighboring option in the same category interests you too, there's no need to go back through search again.

The best tools

• Windows Settings' built-in search (Win + I) — the fastest route to a specific option, no need to know the menu structure.
• Start menu search (Win and typing) — works similarly for launching apps and finding files too, not just settings.
• PowerToys — for advanced system tweaks not found in regular Settings at all.
• Control Panel (the older interface, still available) — some older settings remain there even where the new Settings app hasn't taken over yet, and Settings search will sometimes point you there directly.

What you get out of it

• Time: a few dozen seconds saved per search for a specific option, adding up to a few minutes over a week.
• Less frustration: you don't need to remember which of six main categories a given option hides under.
• Faster help for coworkers: when someone asks for help with a setting, you find the right option faster than you could describe the menu path step by step.
• Discovering hidden options: search sometimes surfaces options you didn't know existed, tucked deep in a submenu you'd likely never have reached by clicking around.

Pro tip

If you don't know the exact name of an option, try describing the problem in your own words — like “how to make the screen brighter” instead of “brightness” — built-in search often recognizes a descriptive query too and offers the right result.