Windows may be set to remove one of its most useful features since Windows 2.0, released in 1987, based on code from a developer preview.

The Control Panel has been around for the longest time, though the most recent developer preview build indicates Microsoft taking more measures to just hide it away.

In Build 19587 that was released to Windows Insiders (basically volunteers who try out early versions of the operating system), there are references to ‘Hide_System_Control_Panel’ and ‘SystemToAboutSettingsSearchRemoval’ in the code.

Well, if I had to assume, that would mean with that update you can’t right-click on the Windows icon to find Control Panel. It may not pop up in the search bar, either.

If you need a refresher, Control Panel was the Settings App, pre-Windows 8. Starting with Windows 8, it released the Settings app (that was WAY too basic) and left out Control Panel for more advanced users.

In Windows 10, though, they improved the Settings app for the better but still kept Control Panel around for advanced users.

With this upcoming update though, it seems that its days may be numbered.

While hiding it away doesn’t mean that Windows will completely get rid of it, it’s clear signs that it’s going down that path. As the quote says, “out of sight, out of mind”.

If it truly does remove it in the future, though, then they better have more options available to users in the Settings app. If the plan is to migrate all of Control Panel to Settings, then I guess it will be a welcome change.