Earlier today, we covered a cool free third-party tool that allows users to have the Windows 10 File Explorer on Windows 11. Dubbed "WinSetView" it has several useful utilities which people may find quite useful, and it does so without needing any Registry tweaks. You can find all about it in this dedicated article here.
On the topic of accessing elements from past Windows editions, the Action Center is one of those that still live on even on Windows 11 version 24H2.
As noted by X user and Windows enthusiast Bob Pony, you can still get it even on the latest Windows 11 Canary channel Insider build, 27744. The Windows 10 Action is available, although, this one will require some tinkering to the Registry, though it is relatively simple.
It essentially involves setting up a new "Lite Layout" option once we create a "Control Center" key. To do so:
- Open the Registry Editor app or REGEDIT,
- Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ key
- Create a new key called "Control Center"
- Inside, add a new DWORD named "UseLiteLayout"
- Finally, set the DWORD value to 1.
You can save and exit and also try a system restart to ensure that the changes have been applied in case the Windows 10 Action Center does not pop up.
If you want a brief background on it, the Action Center is essentially the notification area on the Windows desktop and made its debut with Windows 8.1 back in 2014. It has received subsequent improvements in Windows 10 as well as in Windows 11, though many still feel it needs refinements.