For every network adapter, be it physical or virtual, Windows creates a new network connection and lists in the Network Connections page. From there, you can easily disable, enable, or change properties of any adapter. Follow the below steps to create network adapters shortcut in Windows 10.
In general, getting to the network adapter page is nothing hard. However, it is buried pretty deep. If you are frequently accessing the network adapters section, it is better to create a simple desktop shortcut. That way, the page is just a double-click away.
Personally, this simple shortcut helped me a lot when I used to disable the Ethernet adapter due to it interfering with the USB tethering. Of course, back then I don’t know you can actually change network connection priority in Windows to eliminate interference.
Anyway, if you are accessing the network connections page frequently, having a simple desktop shortcut is useful. Let me show you how to create it.
Note: Network Connections and Network Adapters are kind of the same thing. So, don’t get confused when I use them interchangeably.
Steps to Create Network Adapters Shortcut
Windows has a special control panel item called ncpa.cpl that is responsible for launching the network connections page in the control panel. For example, if you search for ncpa.cpl in the start menu and press Enter, the target page opens instantly. You can also use the same file name to launch the page from the Run dialog box. We are going to use this file to create the network adapter shortcut.
1. First, right-click on the desktop and select “New → Shortcut” option.
2. In the blank field, enter the following path and click on the “Next” button to continue.
C:\Windows\System32\ncpa.cpl
3. Now, enter a name for your shortcut. In my case, I’m naming the shortcut as “Network Connections”. You can name it anything you want. Click “Finish” to continue.
4. That is it. You’ve created the network adapters shortcut.
Double-click on the shortcut and you will be instantly taken to the network connections page where you can see all the network adapters.
For added accessibility, add the shortcut to the quick launch toolbar. That way, you can access the shortcut directly from the taskbar.
(Optional) Change Shortcut Icon
By default, the shortcut uses a simple gear like icon. If you don’t like this, you can easily change the shortcut icon.
To do that, right-click on the shortcut and select “Properties”. In the properties window, click on the “Change Icon” button.
The above action will open the icon selection window. Scroll sideways until you see the icon you like, select it, and click on the “Ok” button.
In the main window, click on the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save changes.
That is it. You’ve changed the icon. You should now see the new icon.
If you don’t like the default Windows icons, you can even select your own custom icon by clicking on the “Browse” button in the second step. Make sure that the icon is in ICO format.
Hope that helps. If you stuck in the procedure or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
If you like the article, do check out how to change a network from public to private in Windows 10.
