The PC Settings screen and its related pages
are designed to provide easy access to settings commonly used for
customizing the user interface and the way that apps can be used. You
can display the PC Settings screen using one of the following
techniques:
-
With touch UI, slide in from the right, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC Settings.
-
With the mouse and keyboard, press Windows key + I, and then click Change PC Settings.
Figure 1
shows PC Settings on my laptop. You navigate between pages by tapping
or clicking the name of the page. Each user who logs on to a computer
has separate settings.
The sections that follow examine key areas of the operating system
that can be configured using these pages and options. Keep in mind that
the pages and options you see may be slightly different depending on
your computing device.
Note
Throughout this section, I use the term apps to refer to desktop apps, as opposed to traditional desktop programs.
You use the Personalize page to configure the Lock screen, Start screen, and account picture. Change between the configuration areas by tapping or clicking Lock Screen, Start Screen, or Account Picture as appropriate.
Personalizing the Lock Screen
With the Lock
screen, you can choose a picture to display in the background by tapping
or clicking the picture you want to use. If you want to use a picture
from somewhere else on your computer, tap or click Browse, and then use
the options provided to navigate to and choose the picture you want to
use.
Some apps, referred to as Lock
Screen Apps, can run in the background and show quick status and
notifications even when the screen is locked. Typically, the messaging, mail, and calendar
apps are configured to do this by default. Other apps installed on the
computer may be able to show quick status and notifications on the Lock
screen as well. If so, tap or click the Add option (which shows a plus
sign) and then tap or click the app to add it. To remove a Lock Screen
app, tap or click the app and then tap or click Don’t Show Quick Status
Here.
Some apps, like Calendar and Weather,
can display a detailed status on the lock screen, but normally, only
one can actively display detailed status at a time. It’s listed under
Choose An App To Display Detailed Status. If no detailed status app has
been added, tap or click the Add option (which shows a plus sign) and
then tap or click the app to add. To remove the detailed status app, tap
or click the app and then tap or click Don’t Show Detailed Status On
The Lock Screen.
Personalizing the Start Screen and Account Picture
With the Start screen, you can choose a background style to display
by tapping or clicking the style you want to use. You also can choose a
color for the background.
Any picture can be added as an account picture. A silhouette graphic
is used by default. If you want to use a picture from somewhere else on
your computer, tap or click Browse, and then use the options provided to
navigate to and choose the picture you want to use.
If your computer has a camera, you can create an account picture by clicking Camera and following the prompts.
You use the Users page primarily to manage the logged-on account. If
the logged-on account is using a Microsoft account, you can use the
options provided to switch to a local account. If the logged-on account
is using a local account, you can use the options provided to switch to a
Microsoft account.
The Sign-In
Options allow you to create or change a picture password for the
logged-on user (if allowed in Group Policy). You also can control
whether a user must enter a password when waking the computer.
In a workgroup or home group, you have two additional sign-in
options. You can change the password of the logged-on user. You also
can create or change a PIN for the logged-on user.
Many apps can display notifications, and the Notifications page is where you go to control those notifications. Top-level notification controls include:
-
Show App Notifications
Controls whether apps can display notifications on Start and the desktop
-
Show App Notifications On The Lock Screen
Controls whether apps can display notifications on the lock screen
-
Play Notification Sounds
Controls whether apps can play notification sounds
Tap or click the control to turn the related notifications on or off.
You also can turn notifications on or off for individual apps.
The Search, Share, and Privacy Pages
The Search page
allows you to personalize the way search works. Windows 8 tracks a
history of your searches and can use this to show the apps that you
search most often at the top of your searches and to save searches for
future suggestions. Use the Search History options to modify the way this works or to delete the current search history.
When you perform app searches, Windows searches data stored within
apps as well as for the apps themselves. Certain apps, such as Mail,
Music, Photos, and News are configured to search, and options are
provided to turn search on or off for each app individually. Simply tap
or click the related button to toggle search on or off.
Similarly, certain apps are configured for quick sharing, allowing you to quickly share photos, documents, or other items. The Share
page allows you to personalize the way sharing works. Windows 8 tracks a
history of the apps that you use for sharing and can display the apps
that you use for sharing in a prioritized list. Up to five apps are in
the list by default. Tap or click Items In List to select a different
number of apps. Tap or click Clear List to clear and reset the list.
Certain apps, such as Mail and People,
are configured for sharing automatically. Options are provided to turn
sharing on or off for each app individually. Simply tap or click the
related button to toggle sharing on or off.
Apps also can use your location, name, and account picture, and you configure related settings on the Privacy page. Simply tap or click the related button to specify whether you want this information to be available with apps.
Tip
On the General page under App Switching, you can specify whether a
user can switch between recent apps. When app switching is allowed,
Windows 8 tracks recently used apps in a history, and you can clear this
history by tapping or clicking Delete History.
The Sync Your Settings Page
When the currently logged-on user has a Microsoft account, you can
control the way settings are synchronized between devices on the Sync
Your Settings page. Settings that can be synchronized include:
-
The user’s settings from the Personalize page
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Desktop personalization settings for themes, the taskbar, and more
-
Sign-in passwords for some apps, websites, networks, and HomeGroups
-
Ease of Access options and language preferences
-
Browser settings, browser history, and browser favorites
-
Other Windows settings for File Explorer, the mouse, and more
The Sync Settings On This PC
option is the top-level control. If you don’t want settings to be
synchronized between devices, turn this setting off. If you want some or
all settings to be synchronized between devices, turn this setting on.
When synchronization is allowed, use the options
under Settings To Sync to control the type of settings that are
synchronized. As Windows 8 also can recognize when a computer is on a
metered connection, such as a cellular network, you can turn syncing on
or off over metered connections and specify whether syncing is ever
allowed when the metered connection is roaming.
