How to Open Control Panel Folders from the Command Prompt

SUMMARY

This article describes how to start Control Panel applications and open folders at the MS-DOS command prompt.

MORE INFORMATION

Use the following syntax to launch Control Panel applications and open folders:

Syntax	Description
Control desktop	Launches the Desktop Control Panel subprogram
Control color	Launches the Desktop Control Panel subprogram, with the Appearance tab preselected
Control date/time	Launches the Date/Time Control Panel program
Control international	Launches the Regional Settings Control Panel subprogram
Control mouse	Launches the Mouse Control Panel subprogram
Control keyboard	Launches the Keyboard Control Panel subprogram
Control printers	Displays the Printers folder
Control fonts	Displays the Fonts folder
Control input.dll	Launches the Text Services and Input Language settings Control Panel subprogram

For Windows 2000:

Syntax	Description
Control folders	Launches the Folder Settings Control Panel subprogram
Control netware	Launches the Novell NetWare Control Panel subprogram (if installed)
Control telephony	Launches the Phone and Modem Options Control Panel subprogram
Control admintools	Displays the Administrative Tools folder
Control schedtasks	Displays the Scheduled Tasks folder
Control netconnections	Displays the Network and Dial-up Connections folder
Control infrared	Launches the Infrared Control Panel subprogram (if installed)
Control userpasswords	Launches the Users and Passwords Control Panel subprogram

For example, to open the printers folder, type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:

control printers

The %Systemroot%\System32 folder also contains .cpl files that allow users to launch Control Panel applications through Windows Explorer or the command prompt. For a list of the .cpl files and their descriptions, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: