Collection of Windows 10 Hidden Secret Registry Tweaks

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We know that Microsoft is working on the upcoming operating system Windows 10 and currently a free Technical Preview build is available for download to public so that we all can test its new features and can provide feedback and suggestions to Microsoft.

Since Windows 10 is under development and testing, there are many new experimental features which are put into the OS but are not activated because these features might not be complete and can cause problems to users. On the other hand, some new features are enabled to replace old features but Microsoft also keeps the old features in the OS hidden from users.

Most of the times these new and old features can be enabled or disabled using various Registry tweaks which are applied using our favorite Registry Editor tool.

We have received many emails and comments from our readers who shared various Registry tweaks to enable new hidden secret experimental features in Windows 10 as well as to disable new features and to bring back old features in Windows 10.

Instead of creating separate articles for all of them, we decided to put them together in this exclusive topic for your reading convenience. Special thanks to our readers Ashfaq, Matthew, Johan and Keshav for sharing these tweaks.

So today in this tutorial, we are going to share a few Registry tweaks for Windows 10 which will allow you to activate some new hidden secret experimental features in Windows 10 and to restore previous build's features if required.

So without wasting time lets start the tutorial:

STEP 1:

Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box or you can open it using WIN+X menu.

STEP 2:

Now type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

STEP 3:

Now go to following keys and change mentioned DWORD values to enable/disable Windows 10 features:

NOTE: Ready-made registry scripts are given at the end to do the task automatically.

Activate New Experimental Login Screen

Microsoft has put a new experimental Login Screen in Windows 10 builds which is not enabled by default. It features new rounded user pictures (avatars) along with a few other UI changes.



You can activate it using following method:

1. In Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\TestHooks

2. In right-side pane, change value of Threshold to 1

That's it. It'll immediately enable the new login screen.

If you want to restore default Login Screen, change value of Threshold to 0 again.

PS: This new login screen is under development and contains many bugs, that's why its not enabled at the moment. Some people have faced problems after enabling this new login screen such as not able to log into Windows after restart or a clean boot.

Activate New Tray Clock and Calendar UI

You can use following method to enable a new Modern (Metro) style Clock and Calendar UI in Windows 10 Taskbar Notification Area (aka System Tray):



1. In Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell

2. In right-side pane, create a new DWORD UseWin32TrayClockExperience and leave its value to 0

That's it. It'll immediately enable the new Clock and Calendar UI in system tray.

If you want to restore default Clock UI, delete the new DWORD UseWin32TrayClockExperience.

Disable New Xaml Start Menu and Enable Previous Start Menu

Microsoft has replaced previous Windows 10 Start Menu with a new one in the latest Windows 10 build 9926 which is a little bit buggy and can't be resized. Luckily, the old Start Menu still exists in the OS. Interested people can enable the old resizable Start Menu in Windows 10 using following method:

1. In Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

2. In right-side pane create a new DWORD EnableXamlStartMenu and leave its value to 0

3. Restart, log off or restart Explorer as given here to take effect and enjoy the old Start Menu in Windows 10.

This tweak will also enable previous Start Screen and you'll also be able to switch between Start Menu and Start Screen again using Taskbar Properties as mentioned here.

To restore the new Start Menu, delete the new DWORD EnableXamlStartMenu.

Enable Jump List Feature in Windows 10 Start Menu

You can use following trick to enable jump list feature in Windows 10 Start Menu:



1. In Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

2. In right-side pane create a new DWORD EnableXamlJumpView and set its value to 1

3. Restart your computer to take effect and enjoy jump lists in Start Menu of Windows 10.

To remove jump list feature from Start Menu, delete the new DWORD EnableXamlJumpView.

Disable New Windows Update UI and Enable Previous UI

Microsoft has also updated Windows Update UI in the latest Windows 10 build 9926 and some people are facing problems with this new UI.

Interested people can disable this new Windows Update UI and bring back the old UI using following method:

1. In Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX

2. In right-side pane, change value of IsConvergedUpdateStackEnabled DWORD to 0

That's it. It'll immediately disable the new Windows Update UI.

If you want to restore new Windows Update UI, change value of IsConvergedUpdateStackEnabled DWORD to 1 again.

Replace New Notification Center Sidebar with Previous UI

Microsoft has updated Notification Center (aka Action Center) UI in Windows 10 build 9926. Now it opens as a sidebar and contains new quick action switches.

Following method will allow you to disable this new UI and restore previous build's Notification Center:

1. In Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell

2. In right-side pane, change value of UseActionCenterExperience DWORD to 0

3. Restart, log off or restart Explorer as given here to take effect and it'll disable the new Notification Center UI.

If you want to restore new UI, change value of UseActionCenterExperience DWORD to 1 again.

Completely Disable Notification Center in Windows 10

If you don't like the new Notification Center in Windows 10, you can disable it using following method:

1. In Registry Editor, go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

2. In right-side pane, create new DWORD DisableNotificationCenter and set its value to 1

3. Restart, log off or restart Explorer as given here to take effect and it'll completely disable Notification Center in Windows 10.

If you want to re-enable it, delete the new DWORD ► DisableNotificationCenter.

Disabling Notification Center will also remove System Tray icons from Taskbar.

Download Ready-Made Registry Scripts

For your convenience, we are also providing ready-made Registry scripts to do the task automatically. You'll not need to open Registry Editor and change values. You just need to download following ZIP file, extract it and then run the given .REG files to enable/disable Windows 10 features:

Registry Scripts to Enable/Disable Windows 10 Hidden Secret Features

Extra Registry scripts are also present in the ZIP file to restore default settings.

source:askvg