How To Reset The Settings App In Windows 10

The Settings or Settings app aims to replace the classic Control Panel in Windows 10. Barring a few advanced settings (like advanced power plan settings), most of the options are now available in the Settings app.

At times, the Settings app fails to open or closes soon after the launch. Everyone has experienced this issue while using Windows 10.

While we can close an unresponsive Settings app from the Task Manager, Windows 10 doesn’t provide an easy solution to fix the issues related to the Settings app. Of course, we can reinstall it via Windows PowerShell, but many users are not familiar with the PowerShell.

Luckily and surprisingly, Windows 10 offers an easy way to reset the Settings app. Sadly, Microsoft has not talked about this nifty feature yet. Because of this, most users are not aware of it.

For all installed apps, Apps & features page in the Settings app offers an option to reset the app. However, the Settings app is not listed there despite including a hidden option to reset itself!

If the Settings app is not working properly or fails to open, you can reset the Settings app right from the Settings app. The option to access the reset option is present in the Start menu!

Tip: If you are on Windows 11, refer to our reset the Settings app in Windows 11 guide.

Reset the Windows 10 Settings app

Here is how to reset the Settings app in Windows 10.

Step 1: Open the Start menu or Start screen. Right-click on the gear/settings icon, click More and then click App settings to open the advanced options page of Settings.

If the gear/settings icon is missing from the Start, refer to our how to add the missing Settings app to the Windows 10 Start menu guide.

Alternatively, search for the Settings in the Start/taskbar search, right-click on the Settings entry and then click the App settings option.

Step 2: On this page, scroll down to see the Reset section. Click on the Reset button to see a small pop up. Click the Reset button on the pop up to reset the Settings app.

One the reset is done, the Settings app window will automatically close. You may now launch the Settings app.

As you can see in the picture above, the same page also offers an option to terminate the Settings app.