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
This option will not work if the Settings app will not open at all.
1 Open the Start menu

2 Click/tap on the All apps button. (see screenshot below)
3 Right click on Settings, click/tap on More, and click/tap on App settings. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on the Reset button. (see screenshot below)
5 Click/tap on Reset to confirm. (see screenshot below)
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.
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.
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.
Download
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.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
Last edited: