Apps Reset and Re-register Settings App in Windows 11


Settings_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to reset and re-register the Settings app for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Microsoft designed Settings to be beautiful, easy to use and inclusive of all your Microsoft experiences in Windows 10/11. Settings has left-handed navigation that persists between pages, and Microsoft has added breadcrumbs as you navigate deeper into Settings to help you know where you are and not lose your place. Settings pages are also all new, with new hero controls at the top that highlight key information and frequently used settings for you to adjust as you need. These new hero controls span across several category pages like System, Bluetooth & devices, Network & Internet, Personalization, Accounts, and Windows Update. Microsoft also have added expandable boxes for pages with a lot of settings.

If Settings is crashing or not opening and not disabled, you can reset and re-register it to hopefully fix it.

It is required to have the Capability Access Manager Service (camsvc) service enabled and running to use the commands below.



Contents

  • Option One: Reset and Re-register Settings App from Start Menu
  • Option Two: Reset and Re-register Settings App in PowerShell
  • Option Three: Reset and Re-register Settings App in Command Prompt
  • Option Four: Reset and Re-register Settings App using PSTools


EXAMPLE: Settings (Win+I) app in Windows 11

Settings.webp





Option One

Reset and Re-register Settings App from Start Menu


This option will not work if the Settings app will not open at all.


1 Open the Start menu :win:.

2 Click/tap on the All apps button. (see screenshot below)

Reset_Settings_Start_Menu-1.png

3 Right click on Settings, click/tap on More, and click/tap on App settings. (see screenshot below)

Reset_Settings_Start_Menu-2.png

4 Click/tap on the Reset button. (see screenshot below)

Reset_Settings_Start_Menu-3.png

5 Click/tap on Reset to confirm. (see screenshot below)

Reset_Settings_Start_Menu-4.png




Option Two

Reset and Re-register Settings App in PowerShell


1 Open Windows Terminal, and select Windows PowerShell.

2 Copy and paste the command below into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

Get-AppxPackage *windows.immersivecontrolpanel* | Reset-AppxPackage

3 When finished, you can close Windows Terminal if you like.

Reset_Settings_in_PowerShell.png





Option Three

Reset and Re-register Settings App in Command Prompt


1 Open Windows Terminal, and select Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the command below into the Command Prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage *immersivecontrolpanel*).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

3 When finished, you can close Windows Terminal if you like.

Reset_Settings_in_command.png





Option Four

Reset and Re-register Settings App using PSTools


You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

This option is handy to fix getting the "We’re updating Settings. It should be ready to use again shortly." message when trying to open Settings.


1 Download PSTools by Mark Russinovich.


2 Save the PSTools.zip file to your desktop.

3 Unblock the downloaded PSTools.zip file.

4 Extract All the PSTools.zip file to your desktop.

5 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select Command Prompt.

6 Copy and paste the command below into the Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

"%UserProfile%\Desktop\PSTools\Psexec64.exe" /s powershell.exe​

7 Copy and paste the command below into the Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

add-appxpackage -RegisterByFamilyName -MainPackage windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy -forceapplicationshutdown​

8 When finished, you can close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.

PSTools.pmg.png



That's it,
Shawn Brink


Related Tutorials

 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
Hoping its okay post a question here since it's universally applicable about the effect of this tutorial.

If so, when you do reset of this component, it says it will delete your preferences and sign in details. What preferences are it referring to? AS i have adjusted a lot of things on my computer.

And sign in details, as in, I will need to make a new sign in screen password? Re-name the user-name? Does it remove our existing password?

Thanks
Screenshot 2025-07-28 131031.webp
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windwos 11 pro
pacificSurf said:
Hoping its okay post a question here since it's universally applicable about the effect of this tutorial.

If so, when you do reset of this component, it says it will delete your preferences and sign in details. What preferences are it referring to? AS i have adjusted a lot of things on my computer.

And sign in details, as in, I will need to make a new sign in screen password? Re-name the user-name? Does it remove our existing password?

Thanks
View attachment 140684
Click to expand...

Hello, :alien:

This doesn't affect your account sign in.

I've not noticed it changing anything other than just resetting the Settings app.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Hi, hoping for some help, Windows 11 Pro, build 24H2. I have tried all 4 methods and Settings will still only flash up with a white background in the window and then close. No settings, like network for example will open. I've also tried dism restorehealth and sfc /scannow with success results. I suspect this happened from a windows update, but don't know for sure. Any other ideas, thanks!

PS; also none of the powershell commands show an error and seem to complete successfully.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    linux mint and windows 10 / 11
secure_1 said:
Hi, hoping for some help, Windows 11 Pro, build 24H2. I have tried all 4 methods and Settings will still only flash up with a white background in the window and then close. No settings, like network for example will open. I've also tried dism restorehealth and sfc /scannow with success results. I suspect this happened from a windows update, but don't know for sure. Any other ideas, thanks!

PS; also none of the powershell commands show an error and seem to complete successfully.
Click to expand...

Hello, and welcome to the forum. :alien:

You could see if doing a repair install of Windows 11 may fix this.

www.elevenforum.com

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Amazon Basics Wired Full Keyboard MD005
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 4
    Internet Speed
    2 Gbps Download and 100 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Thanks for the response. I was hoping to avoid that, but I'll give it a try.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    linux mint and windows 10 / 11
Reporting back that an in place upgrade, via ISO or online, did not fix the problem. I did fix it by rolling back the windows update that upgraded the computer from Windows 11 24H2 to 25H2. I've locked the computer on 24H2 for now to stop this from happening again. Since I couldn't get into any settings menu to uninstall an update, I had to do this from admin command line:
wmic qfe list brief /format:table to list recent updates
wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:XXXXXX to remove the update
Then rebooted and all is well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    linux mint and windows 10 / 11
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar Windows 11 Tutorials

  • Article Article
Accessibility Reset Closed Caption Style to Default in Windows 11
Replies
0
Views
89
Brink
Brink
  • Article Article
Apps Set Alarm with Clock app in Windows 11
Replies
1
Views
1K
Mark K
M
  • Article Article
Apps Delete Alarm in Clock app on Windows 11
Replies
0
Views
376
Brink
Brink
  • Article Article
Privacy and Security Enable or Disable Let Apps Take Screenshots and Record Screen in Windows 11
Replies
3
Views
1K
Ghot
Ghot
  • Article Article
Accessibility Reset Screen Tint to Default in Windows 11
Replies
0
Views
484
Brink
Brink
  • Article Article
Gaming Enable or Disable Run at Startup for Xbox app in Windows 11
Replies
0
Views
3K
Brink
Brink
  • Article Article
Apps Change Background Color in Windows Photo Viewer app in Windows 11
Replies
0
Views
866
Brink
Brink

Latest Support Threads

Latest Tutorials

Back
Top Bottom