microsoft/PowerToys

Command Palette: comprehensive search among Control Panel options

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#48,539 opened on Jun 12, 2026

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CmdPal-SettingsHelp WantedProduct-Command Palette

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Description

Description of the new feature / enhancement

There is an option to search in Control Panel. You can open it and press Ctrl + F then type keywords to search for. The same is partially present in search results of the Windows Settings extention for Command Palette but not all options. The logic of what's present from Control Panel and what's not is not clear. Notice that if you perform any of the following examples in the Windows Start Menu search everything going to work correctly.

Example 1.

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Press Ctrl + F.
  3. Type "device".
  4. Notice you have "Setup USB game controllers" option which is a suboption under "Device and Printers" option.
  5. Open Command Palette.
  6. Type "device" directly in the global search or under "$" Windows Settings extension.
  7. Notice that neither from options lists "Setup USB game controllers".

Example 2.

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Press Ctrl + F.
  3. Type "file history".
  4. Notice you have "File History" main option listed.
  5. Open Command Palette.
  6. Type "file history" directly in the global search or under "$" Windows Settings extension.
  7. Notice that neither from options lists "File History".

Example 3.

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Press Ctrl + F.
  3. Type "performance".
  4. Notice you have "Adjust appearance and performance of Windows" suboption under "System" option.
  5. Open Command Palette.
  6. Type "performance" or "adjust" directly in the global search or under "$" Windows Settings extension.
  7. Notice that neither from options lists "Adjust appearance and performance of Windows".

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/76cf231a-c3d0-46cc-ac35-763f2e75d819

Scenario when this would be used?

Simplifies search for relevant settings.

Supporting information

No response

Contributor guide

Research direction
Examine the Command Palette search implementation in PowerToys and the current list of Control Panel items. Identify how Control Panel search works via Windows API or registry and integrate that to populate the command palette results.
Tech stack
csharp
Domain
desktoptooling
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
C#
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65