How to Configure the Windows 10 Action Panel With Your Own Customized Buttons

Though the tech community is still a bit divided on the final verdict over Windows 10, there’s one part of the operating system that Microsoft inarguably nailed down pat: the revamped notification center and its many different Quick Action buttons.

Here’s how to configure it to fit your personal needs best.

Open the Settings App

To get to the customization options for the Quick Action bar, you can either find the Settings app in the Start Menu, or even use the bar itself, as the Settings app is linked to launch it by default.

Once you’re in Settings, navigate to the System icon.

Once here, select the “Notifications and Actions” tab to access your Quick actions options.

Quick Actions Configuration

At default, each button in the Settings window will correspond to its eventual position in the Action Bar.

So for example; for the first button in the four-button row, whichever option you choose, that will be what appears in the line after you reopen in the Quick Action panel.

When selected, you’ll be able to choose from a drop-down menu containing the options for each, including settings like Location, the option to turn on Tablet Mode, or connect to an available Bluetooth device in the area.

 Quick actions such as putting the computer into quiet mode, or logging a note can be picked out from the full array of options, and then swapped into the bar for easy access.

If you are running Windows 10 on a laptop, this will also extend to choices like setting the screen’s brightness, turning on Airplane Mode, or showing you how much of a charge is still left on the internal battery.

Expanding the menu will showcase the rest of the options which weren’t already hotswapped to the first bar.

Any buttons you don’t end up selecting for the hotbar will automatically be shoved down to the full menu, which can be expanded in the action center by clicking the “Expand” button, highlighted above.

Windows 10 may still be a derisive experience for those who have had some time to sit down and use it over the past week, but it’s good to know that for just as many blunders the OS stumbles on, there are still some redeeming qualities like the Quick Access bar to keep the dream of a perfect Windows operating system alive.