In fact, Windows won’t let you remove native items without hacking the Registry, using Group Policy, or taking ownership of the file first. In other words, you can easily remove a Flash or Stardock item, but not Windows Firewall or Device Manager. Note: This works best to remove unwanted items that third-party software adds to Control Panel. If you’re not sure which CPL file is associated with what you want to remove, just do a quick Google search.Ĭlose out of Control Panel and launch it again, and now the Flash Player Control Panel Item is no longer listed. In Control Panel in the upper right-hand corner, there is a 'View by' dropdown menu. Finally, if none of that works, here's how to find the Mail icon in the Control Panel: Bring the mouse to the bottom right corner of the screen (where the Start button used to be) and right-click. In this case I ‘m deleting FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl but the item you want to remove might be different. Select 'Quick Repair' and click 'Repair'. Then right-click the item you want gone and click Delete. This lets you find the Control Panel items easier. For this example I am removing the Flash Player Control Panel icon since I never use it anyway.Ĭlick Start and type: C:\windows\system32 into the Search box and hit Enter.
