In this section:
Windows 8 settings provide tools for managing your Windows experience. You can access these settings in two ways: through the Settings charm or through the Control Panel. The Settings charm offers access to the most commonly used settings. If you want to dig deeper into more advanced settings, you will probably use the Control Panel.
Some basic settings, such as choosing what network to connect to or changing the date and time for your computer clock and calendars, are used at one time or another by most people. In this section, you’ll learn how to modify some of the most commonly used Windows 8 settings. When you click the Settings charm, common PC settings are displayed, along with a Change PC Settings link to access more settings.
Windows has included the Control Panel feature for many years. While the Control Panel is still available in Windows 8, the most commonly used settings for Windows can now be reached by using the charms, which you can display along the right edge of either the Start screen or the desktop. Tapping the Settings charm displays a group of commonly used settings.
Press the Windows logo key+C to display the charms.
Click the Settings charm.
Click any setting in the bottom of the panel to access its controls.
Charm | Results |
|---|---|
Volume | Displays a slider to adjust system volume |
Brightness | Displays a slider to adjust screen brightness |
Network | Displays a list of available networks |
Notifications | Offers settings for hiding notifications |
Power | Displays three commands offering sleep, shut down, or restart options |
Keyboard | Offers settings for language and displaying keyboard |
Note
See Also
See Overview of Touchscreen Gestures on page 24 to learn the gesture you can use to display the charms on a touchscreen computing device.
Especially when you’re on the go, you will need to connect to and disconnect from different networks and hotspots (publicly available networks in places like airports and coffee shops). You can quickly perform these actions by using the Network button accessed by clicking the Settings charm. Windows 8 will automatically search for and display available networks for you to connect to, and you simply choose the one you want to use.
Some individual desktop apps, such as Music, have their own volume controls. However, the Windows system volume is a master control. For example, if you set the system volume to 50 percent, app volume controls can’t make the volume any louder than that. Setting an app volume to 80 percent would mean that it’s playing at 80 percent of the Windows system volume setting. It’s quite common to want to adjust the system volume or mute sound entirely, which you can do using the Volume slider.
Press Windows logo key+C.
Click Settings.
Click the Volume button.
Click and drag the slider to raise or lower volume.
Tip
If you want to get separate control over the volume of your system and the volume of system sounds, such as an alert that an email has arrived, display the Control Panel (type “Control Panel” from the Start Screen, and click the app in the search results), click Hardware And Sound, and then click Sound, Adjust System Volume. Click and drag the System Sounds slider up or down to adjust it.
The brightness setting for your screen is most important on laptops and tablets, which are typically less crisp than larger desktop displays. Also, because these devices might be used in different lighting conditions as you travel from place to place, you’ll find yourself adjusting their brightness more often. Adjusting brightness is easy, using a simple slider setting.
Your computer uses the time zone you specify in Windows to display clocks on the Windows Desktop taskbar, set calendar applications to the correct date, run scheduled maintenance tasks, and so on. The time zone you select automatically sets the correct date and time, even taking into account areas that don’t use daylight savings time. If your location doesn’t use daylight savings time, you can use a setting to turn off automatic adjustments.
You probably set up your time zone when you first set up Windows 8. However, today’s computers often don’t stay on the desktop: laptops go on the road with business people and vacationers, desktop computers go to different time zones when the family moves across the country, and so on. It’s handy to know how to change the time zone.
Press Windows logo key+C.
Click Settings.
Click the Change PC Settings link.
Click General.
Click the Time Zone field to display a list of options.
Click an option to select it.
With the PC Settings screen displayed, tap General.
Click the Adjust Clock for Daylight Saving Time Automatically slider.
Windows allows you to put your computer to sleep, which saves battery power if you have a laptop or tablet, and displays a black screen useful for hiding your work from others. You can also restart your computer, which you’ll need to do when you install or run certain apps to put changes into effect. Restarting can also sometimes solve problems you’re experiencing. Finally, if you won’t be using your computer for a while, you can shut it down, again saving battery power for portable devices or electricity for a wired computer.
If you like the onscreen keyboard or have to use this feature because you’re using a tablet Windows 8 device with no physical keyboard, you’ll appreciate the Keyboard settings. In the Settings charm panel you can click Keyboard to view the currently selected language for the keyboard and display the keyboard and handwriting panel. The handwriting panel allows you to enter text by “writing” with your mouse or finger if you have a touchscreen computer.
Press Windows logo key+C.
Click Settings.
Click Keyboard.
Click Touch Keyboard And Handwriting Panel.
Click to choose the keyboard format.
Click Handwriting Panel.
Click and draw a word or shape on the screen.
