Hey,

You probably signed up for this after my Windows 11 customization video, to grab the step-by-step guide. Then I went completely quiet. That’s on me. I was building the systems behind the channel instead of sending filler, but a welcome email still should have come first. So, properly this time: welcome to The Control Panel.

Here’s what it is. Every issue gives you 1 app, 2 shortcuts, and 3 tips or settings that make Windows (and sometimes Mac) work the way you want. It takes about 3 minutes to read, and you can use everything in it the same day.

Let’s start with a small annoyance that adds up.

You’re exporting a video, saving a spreadsheet, or dropping in a screenshot, and the save dialog opens in some random folder from three projects ago. So you click through four or five folders just to save one file. All day.

1 App: Listary

Grab Listary (free). When a save or open dialog shows up in the wrong folder, hit Quick Switch (or click the Listary bar at the bottom of the dialog) and you jump straight to the folder you already have open in File Explorer.

If you save or open files from the same few project folders several times a day, it pays for itself in the first week.

2 Shortcuts

• Alt + P: preview a file in Listary’s results without opening it
• Ctrl + O: open the right-click menu on a selected file, hands still on the keyboard

3 Tips / Settings

1. Type folder + space in Listary’s search bar to show only folders
2. Search by extension (.psd, .mp4) when you remember the file type but not the name
3. Use the history feature to jump back to recent folders instead of re-searching

Help me shape this

This newsletter should be about what you actually want, not what I guess you want. Hit reply and tell me two things:

1. Which would you like more of: apps, shortcuts, or settings? (One word is fine.)
2. What’s your biggest Windows or Mac annoyance right now, the “why doesn’t this work the way I want” thing?

I read every reply, and your answers decide what goes in the next issues.

Talk soon,
Rayen