Microsoft’s Windows 11 divides system controls across at least four distinct interfaces—modern Settings, classic Control Panel applets, Microsoft Management Console snap-ins, and standalone utilities hidden deep inside system folders. But a single, searchable list of more than 200 of those scattered tools has been hiding in plain sight for nearly two decades. It resurfaced this month when TweakTown published a fresh guide to the so-called “GodMode” folder, a built-in Explorer feature that requires no hacks, no registry edits, and no special permissions—just a specific folder name.
What This Shortcut Actually Is
Despite its dramatic nickname, Windows’ “GodMode” is neither a hidden administrator account nor a backdoor that bypasses security. It’s simply Explorer’s “All Tasks” view, exposed through a globally unique class identifier (CLSID): {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}. When you create a folder and append that CLSID to its name—the format is AnyName.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}—the folder transforms into a virtual directory that lists a broad sweep of system settings, administrative tools, and legacy Control Panel applets.
On Windows 11, opening the folder presents an extensive, alphabetically organized list split into categories from “Action Center” and “Administrative Tools” to “Windows Firewall” and “Work Folders.” Exactly which items appear depends on your Windows edition, installed hardware, optional features, and any IT policies applied. A clean Windows 11 Pro install, for example, typically surfaces well over 200 entries. You’ll find everything from Device Manager, Credential Manager, and power options to mouse settings, display calibration, performance controls, and a collection of old troubleshooters.
The Practical Benefit: Speed and Discoverability
The All Tasks folder’s main appeal isn’t organization—it’s discoverability and speed. Windows 11’s Settings app has grown more capable, but Microsoft still hasn’t fully retired the Control Panel. Everyday tweaks, such as adjusting power plans, managing stored credentials, or checking Bluetooth device properties, often force you to remember which tool lives where. The All Tasks view solves that by putting nearly every legacy control point in one place, with a search field at the top that filters the list as you type.
Power users and IT admins, in particular, may find it a time-saver. Instead of hunting for the “View local services” option inside Computer Management, you can pull up the All Tasks window and type “services” to see a direct link. Similarly, “indexing options” or “color management” appear without navigating through the modern Settings labyrinth. The ability to sort by category also helps when you’re not sure of the exact name but know roughly what you’re looking for.
What the All Tasks List Won’t Do
The feature isn’t a universal control panel. Many screens exclusive to the modern Settings app—account management, Windows Update controls, gaming features, and newer privacy toggles—are absent. Microsoft has migrated those experiences to a framework that doesn’t register with the old shell infrastructure, so they simply won’t show up. On a fully updated Windows 11 24H2 system, for instance, you’ll look in vain for “Find My Device” or “Dynamic Lock.”
Crucially, the All Tasks folder does not grant extra privileges. Any tool that normally requires administrator elevation—like Device Manager or Disk Management—will still trigger a User Account Control prompt when you launch it. On corporate or managed devices, Group Policy restrictions remain in force; if your administrator has hidden the Control Panel or specific applets, they’ll also be invisible here. The folder merely aggregates links; it doesn’t alter Windows’ security model.
Step-by-Step: How to Create the All Tasks Folder (and a Cleaner Shortcut)
The simplest method is to create a folder right on your desktop:
- Right-click an empty area on the desktop (or inside any File Explorer window), select New > Folder.
- Rename the folder to anything you like, followed by
.and the CLSID.
Example:MasterControl.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} - Press Enter. If entered correctly, the folder icon changes to a Control Panel-style icon, and the name may revert to just “MasterControl” (the period and CLSID disappear).
However, many users report that the desktop folder sometimes appears with a blank name or an odd label, especially on newer builds. A cleaner approach is to create a standard desktop shortcut with a target that opens the All Tasks view directly:
- Right-click the desktop, choose New > Shortcut.
- In the location field, type:
explorer.exe shell:::{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} - Click Next, give the shortcut a readable name like “All Tasks” or “Legacy Settings,” and finish.
Double-clicking this shortcut opens the exact same list without cluttering your desktop with a special folder icon. You can pin the shortcut to the taskbar or Start menu for even quicker access.
Once inside, the search box at top right becomes your primary navigation tool. Typing “device” instantly narrows the list to Device Manager, Devices and Printers, and similar entries. The view is read-only—you can’t move or delete items—but you can right-click any entry to copy its path, then create dedicated shortcuts for tools you use daily.
How We Got Here: A Brief History of Windows’ Control Surface Fragmentation
The All Tasks CLSID isn’t new. Microsoft documented it in a knowledge base article as far back as Windows XP, and the nickname “GodMode” gained traction during the Windows 7 era when enthusiasts discovered its comprehensive reach. The same CLSID has worked on every subsequent version, including Windows 8, 10, and now 11.
What changed over the years is the proliferation of control surfaces. Microsoft began moving functions to the modern Settings app with Windows 8, and with each feature update, more legacy pages have migrated. Yet the Control Panel remained intact for backward compatibility, and many deeply embedded settings—networking adapters, disk quotas, credential management—still rely on older interfaces. The All Tasks folder sits at the intersection, faithfully aggregating everything that still registers with the Control Panel subsystem while ignoring the newer, siloed experiences.
TweakTown’s guide, published on July 12, 2026, didn’t uncover anything new technically. Instead, it served as a well-timed reminder that this shortcut—unknown to many casual Windows 11 users—can cut through the operating system’s increasingly cluttered menu structure. For every person who’s spent minutes digging through nested Settings pages to find “Power Options” (still a legacy applet in 2026), the All Tasks folder is a minor productivity revelation.
What to Do Now—and What to Watch For
If you regularly tweak system settings, set up the desktop shortcut today. It costs you nothing and demands no ongoing maintenance. In our testing, the shortcut takes up a few kilobytes and has no performance impact whatsoever.
From there, spend five minutes browsing the list and note which tools you actually use. Create ordinary shortcuts for those, then file the All Tasks view away as a master index you consult only when you’re stumped. This prevents the temptation to treat a giant unsorted list as your daily command center—a habit that itself becomes inefficient.
Keep expectations in check, however. Microsoft’s long-term direction is clear: the Settings app will eventually absorb most remaining Control Panel functions. Each Windows 11 feature update has retired a few more legacy pages. When that process finishes—which could still take years—the All Tasks folder will shrink to a skeleton of the tools that still depend on old frameworks. For now, though, it remains a valuable bridge between the modern UI and the classic underpinnings that still run much of Windows.
The trick is also a good reminder that Windows 11, for all its visual polish, still carries a deep reservoir of legacy code. Features like the All Tasks folder persist not because Microsoft wants them to, but because the operating system’s commitment to backward compatibility means they can’t simply be ripped out. As long as that’s true, this nearly two-decade-old trick will have a place in the power user’s toolkit.