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HideSettingsPages

Project build status: Build status

Master branch build status: Build status

GUI to set a Registry key value to hide individual pages in the Windows 10 Settings app on the Creators Update and newer. Microsoft is not affiliated with either the HideSettingsPages project or Drew Naylor and does not endorse this software.

Thanks to Microsoft for implementing this feature into Windows 10, Windows Central for posting an article on how to use this feature, and a commenter going by the name of "DragonPoo" for the indirect suggestion.

Currently, HideSettingsPages allows users to easily hide (or only show while the rest are hidden) certain pages without potentially causing problems with the Windows Registry. In conjunction with HideSettingsPages Registry Helper (sometimes refered to as "hsp_registry-helper"), it does this by writing the user's choice of pages to a value named SettingsPageVisibility located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\ in the Windows Registry.

Screenshot:

As you can see, the GUI is complete for version 0.3, the first pre-release. HideSettingsPages can, as of August 15, 2017, generate the necessary Registry key value that hides (or only shows) pages in the Settings app. If the user clicks either "Apply changes" or "Undo all changes" at the bottom, HideSettingsPages will pass the appropriate commands and data to hsp_registry-helper via command-line args. The user can also check the current key value by clicking "File>Verify current key value..." or by pressing Ctrl+E.

You may also notice this app is running on Windows 7. Although this app can run on any version of Windows supported by the .Net Framework 4.6.1, the Registry key value it modifies/sets only does things on PCs running the Windows 10 Creators Update or higher. Windows 10 S and Windows 10 in S Mode are not supported due to them being limited to running apps from the Windows Store.

More screenshots are visible on the Wiki.



Known issues

See all known issues.

  • If the user clicks items in the checkedlistbox too quickly, the Registry key doesn't update. (issue #6) Fixed in 3def4cc and improved in c86a013

  • If the user toggles items in the checkedlistbox using the spacebar, the Registry key won't update until they move with the arrow keys. (issue #7) Fixed in 3def4cc and improved in c86a013

  • If certain categories (such as Apps) have all their pages hidden, the Settings app may crash when trying to open those categories. (issue #9)

  • Clearing the textbox in the Directly apply key value window doesn't set focus to the textbox. (issue #55)



System Requirements

System Requirements for running HideSettingsPages

To run HideSettingsPages, your computer requires the following:

  • HideSettingsPages Registry Helper. This is included with HideSettingsPages and is what applies the Registry key value to hide the pages the user chooses. It's sometimes referred to as "hsp_registry-helper" as that's the filename I chose for it.

  • Microsoft .Net 4.6.1 Framework

    • Ignore the ad on that page, scroll down, and click the orange Download button. Note that this is the web installer and it'll download its components after it's opened. May take a while to download.

  • Windows versions: Windows 7 SP1, 10.

    • Windows 8.0 and Windows 8.1 are untested although they might work. HideSettingsPages is intended to be used on Windows 10 Creators Update and above, though it does work on Windows 7 SP1. This app does not support either Windows 10 S or Windows 10 in S Mode due to both being limited to running apps from the Windows Store.

  • Architectures: x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit.)

  • Hardware requirements: At least a 1.2 GHz CPU; 1 GB of RAM or more.

  • Disk space:

    • 32-bit: 3 GB space free.
    • 64-bit: 3 GB space free.

  • Note that you might have problems with running this on corporate computers. The ClickOnce security settings are disabled in HideSettingsPages and HideSettingsPages Registry Helper due to Visual Studio building problems.

Building HideSettingsPages from Source: System Requirements and Guide

In addition to the requirements for simply running HideSettingsPages, your computer requires the following software to build it from source code:

If Visual Studio 2015 Community is installed, Microsoft Build Tools 2015 is not required for building HideSettingsPages.

Here's how to manually build HideSettingsPages:

  1. First, clone the Git repository by running: git clone https://github.com/DrewNaylor/HideSettingsPages.git or download the Zip file for the master branch and remember where you saved your files.

  2. Next, open the command prompt from the Start menu (cmd.exe) and type or copy/paste cd C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin\ if you have a 64-bit Windows install or cd C:\Program Files\MSBuild\14.0\Bin\ if you have a 32-bit Windows install. Press the Enter or Return key when it's pasted. Don't run cmd.exe from the Git Shell or else the next step won't work.

  3. Third, type msbuild.exe, press the spacebar, and drag the HideSettingsPages.sln file into the command prompt window and press the Enter or Return key. This file may be in HideSettingsPages-[branch]\HideSettingsPages-[branch]\ . [branch] is the branch cloned from, in this case master.

  4. And finally, once the solution is done being built, you'll find both the main HideSettingsPages EXE file and the hsp_registry-helper EXE file in HideSettingsPages-[branch]\HideSettingsPages-[branch]\HideSettingsPages\bin\Debug wherever you saved the files to earlier along with a config file, a PDB file, and an XML file for both EXE files. You'll also find a Windows Registry Editor file to undo any modifications to the Registry key value that hides Settings app pages, if necessary. [branch] is the branch cloned from, in this case master.

  5. Double-click on HideSettingsPages.exe to open the main HideSettingsPages GUI.

How to Modify the Source Code

In order to play around with the source code, it's recommended to install Visual Studio 2015 Community in addition to the software to run HideSettingsPages. To poke around in the code, simply double-click the HideSettingsPages.sln file in the root of the Git repository.