Recently, I’ve found myself excessively fiddling with network adapters on my Windows laptop, leading to an unwanted increase in my reliance on the Windows Settings app. Although I’ve always had reservations about this app, after spending numerous hours navigating through it, my distaste has evolved into a genuine aversion.
7 The Settings App Is Slow
When a tech giant spends years reengineering a tool initially developed almost two decades ago, one expects significant improvements, especially regarding speed. Regardless of whether additional features are added, one would presume performance would at least be enhanced, or at the very least, not deteriorate. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
For instance, observe the GIF below: as I click through the tabs, there’s a noticeable lag between my action, the highlight of the tab, and the loading of content. This latency is particularly pronounced within the Accounts section.
Moreover, if your device is offline, the performance drops even further. Opening the Accounts tab feels like an ordeal as the app hesitates to realize there’s no internet connection, followed by a useless wait for it to concede defeat on various background sign-in attempts. All of this just to adjust a basic setting! It’s a stark reminder of simpler times, like using my Windows XP profile pic of a chess piece.
6 The Settings App Makes You Play by Microsoft’s Rules
Remember the simplicity of creating a new user account through the Control Panel? Now, the process of setting up an offline account using the Settings app feels akin to navigating through a labyrinth of unnecessary screens. First, locating the settings page for adding a new account is an exercise in frustration.
Upon clicking Add account, a Just a moment pop-up appears. After waiting, you’re faced with the task of confirming you don’t possess the potential new user’s Microsoft account. Another Just a moment follows, leading to pressure to create a Microsoft account regardless. Reaffirm your refusal a second time, and yet another Just a moment appears before you finally arrive at the necessary fields to set up a local account.
This convoluted process exists solely because Microsoft is unwilling to accept the possibility of users using Windows without being tethered to their ecosystem. Should you decide to pursue a straightforward local account, be prepared to jump through an excessive number of hoops.
Despite my efforts to make Windows 11 more bearable—such as restoring the classic right-click menu and using ReviOS to alleviate some obtrusive features—these prevalent issues continue to plague users.
5 The Settings App Has a Terrible Interface
One of the first aspects that becomes apparent about the Settings app, in comparison to the Control Panel, is the alarming amount of wasted space. Options are spread apart excessively, and rare is the setting that doesn’t get its own separate line. The sidebar tabs lack clarity and are grouped in arbitrary ways, making the navigation experience unnecessarily complex.
Moreover, clicking on a setting frequently redirects the user to an entirely new page, even when the information could easily fit on the same screen. Instead of delivering a streamlined view, Microsoft seems intent on showcasing endless whitespace.
The Other Users screen, which serves as the interface for adding new accounts, stands as an exaggerated example of pixel waste. Observing the excessive blank space in the screenshot below is disheartening.
For illustrative purposes, I humorously overlapped nine username and password fields in the blank area to highlight the ludicrous nature of the layout. Additionally, pop-up sign-in pages turn a blind eye to Windows’ dark mode and require manual adjustments for proper customization.
4 You Can’t Open Two Settings Windows at Once
Seriously!
The limitation of the Windows Settings app allowing only a single window to be open at any given time presents a significant hindrance. Should you wish to compare two different sections side by side, you are out of luck. If you need to toggle between network and display settings during troubleshooting, brace yourself for an endless cycle of clicking back and forth within a solitary window.
As I frequently need to check my network adapters, I keep the Settings app open continuously. However, an accidental click on any other launcher that attempts to open Settings—whether it’s through a notification or a quick action—will instantly displace me from my current page, forcing me to retrace my steps back through the app’s confusing maze.
This single-instance limitation represents a notable regression for power users, or truly anyone who anticipates a modern operating system to accommodate basic multitasking. The good old Control Panel allows for as many windows to be opened simultaneously as needed without any conflict.
3 The Settings App Is Indefinitely a Work in Progress
It’s clear that Microsoft is intent on making the Settings app the default interface. Almost anything you right-click opens the Settings app instead of the classic Control Panel. This push seems to suggest that Microsoft wants users to perceive the Settings app as superior. If that were the case, why such an aggressive promotion?
This is hardly the reality. The Windows 11 Settings app remains one of the most underdeveloped applications included with the operating system. For instance, to add a second timezone to your taskbar, one should navigate to Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time, and then click on Additional Clocks. Instead of a seamless experience, you find yourself redirected to a Control Panel applet that looks like it belongs in 2005.
Alternatively, consider checking system environment variables, such as PATH. Searching “environment variables” in Settings invariably leads you back to another Control Panel window, still sporting the visual flair of Windows 7.
It’s worth mentioning that the Settings app has existed since 2012, which means it’s undergone over a decade of development. Despite numerous updates and continual UI adjustments, it still feels incomplete. At this juncture, it’s reasonable to question whether it ever will be.
Even if I wanted to leave the Control Panel behind and fully embrace Microsoft’s vision with the glamorous new Settings app, I would find it fundamentally limiting and lacking several crucial functionalities required for everyday tasks.
Nonetheless, the thought of sticking with the Control Panel is…
2 The Settings App Is Ruining Control Panel
If I prefer the Control Panel, I should have the freedom to utilize it while those opting for the Settings app can do so as well. Each preference should coexist, correct?
Regrettably, Microsoft is not permitting such a situation. If you try creating a new user account through the classic Control Panel, be prepared to be unceremoniously redirected into the Settings app. This bizarre workflow manifests a frustrating cycle: Microsoft continually strips features from the Control Panel, compelling users toward Settings, only to redirect back to the Control Panel for advanced tasks.
The same applies to managing default applications. Accessing that section in Control Panel immediately sends you to the Default Apps page in Settings, where it’s surprisingly easy to designate Microsoft Edge as your default browser, regardless of your original intentions.
In essence, Microsoft is compelling me to relocate to a shiny new house that still lacks fundamental utilities, forcing me to trek back to my old residence simply to relieve myself.
1 The Settings App Sums Up Everything Wrong With Windows
The chaotic nature of the Windows Settings app perfectly epitomizes the trajectory Microsoft has been steering Windows in over the last decade: obligatory updates that disrupt or replace functioning features with incomplete, simplified iterations; an obsession with “modern” aesthetics that often translates to more whitespace and less substantial information; and a perplexing endeavor to reconfigure Windows into a tablet-centric operating system.
It truly feels as if Microsoft is acting on the belief that 90% of tablets run Windows, pursuing aggressive optimization for touch functionalities and prioritizing a user experience that seems tailored for devices other than traditional PCs. Yet, how many pure touch-only tablets are genuinely using Windows? Who is Microsoft aiming to serve?
Microsoft appears to overlook that Windows was always about power and flexibility for real users, not merely touch gestures and superficial UIs for an imagined Surface tablet market. With each release, we witness a gradual erosion of the principles that made Windows remarkable, all under the guise of an aesthetic vision that seems ill-suited for its intended audience.
If you seek a compelling illustration of the frustrations faced by long-standing Windows enthusiasts regarding the platform’s direction, look no further than the Settings app. It’s slow, superficial, incomplete, and evidently designed without consideration for daily users. More than anything, this reality encapsulates what’s fundamentally wrong with Windows in 2025.
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