Windows 10: Choose Default Apps in Windows 10

How to: Choose Default Apps in Windows 10

How to Choose Default Apps to Open Files with in Windows 10


A default app is the program that Windows uses automatically when you open a particular file type or protocol.

The default app you choose will only apply to your account and won't affect other accounts on the PC.

The default email app must be one installed on your PC. You can't use a web-based email service, like Outlook.com, Gmail, or Yahoo! mail as the default email program.

When you change a default app for a file type or protocol, you can't leave it blank. You must select a new app.

This tutorial will show you how to reset defaults and different ways to choose default apps used to open files and protocols for your account in Windows 10.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Reset to the Microsoft Recommended Default Apps
• Option Two: To Choose Default App in "Open with" Context Menu
• Option Three: To Choose Default Apps in Settings
• Option Four: To Choose Default Apps by File Type in Settings
• Option Five: To Choose Default Apps by Protocol in Settings
• Option Six: To Set Defaults by App in Settings

OPTION ONE [/i] Reset to the Microsoft Recommended Default Apps

*note This option will reset all file type and protocol associations to the Microsoft recommended defaults for only your user account.
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Apps icon.

2. Click/tap on Defaults apps on the left side, and click/tap on the Reset button at the bottom of the right side. (see screenshot below)



3. You will now see a check mark to the right of the Reset button to indicate it has finished. (see screenshot below)








OPTION TWO [/i] To Choose Default App in "Open with" Context Menu
1. Do step 2, step 3, or step 4 below for what you would like to do.


2. To Choose App to Open this File
*note This will only open the file with the selected app for just this one time and not always by default.
A) Right click or press and hold on a file, click/tap on Open with, and click/tap on a listed app (ex: Windows Photo Viewer) you want to temporarily open the file with. (see top screenshot below)

OR

B) Select a file, click/tap on the Home tab, click/tap on the Open menu arrow in the ribbon, and click/tap on a listed app you want to temporarily open the file with. (see bottom screenshot below)








3. To Choose another App to Open this File
*note You will be able to choose to always use the selected app to open the file type with by default.
A) Right click or press and hold on a file, click/tap on Open with, and click/tap on Choose another app. (see top screenshot below)

OR

B) Select a file, click/tap on the Home tab, click/tap on the Open menu arrow in the ribbon, and click/tap on Choose another app. (see bottom screenshot below)






C) Select how you want to open this file. (see screenshots below)

*note If the app you want to choose as the default to open this file with is not listed, then you can use either option below.

More apps = Will list more apps to select from, and give you more options.

• Look for another app on this PC = Allows you to browse to and select an app to open this file with.

Look for an app in the Microsoft Store = Will open the Store app for you to select and install an app to open the file with.

Always use this app to open (file extension) files = If you check this box, it will set the selected app to always open this file type by default.






4. To Choose App to Open this Unassociated File
A) Right click or press and hold on an unassociated file, and click/tap on Open with. (see top screenshot below)

OR

B) Select an unassociated file, click/tap on the Home tab, click/tap on the Open menu arrow in the ribbon, and click/tap on Open with. (see screenshot below)



C) Select how you want to open this unassociated file. (see screenshots below)

*note You can use either option below.

More apps = Will list more apps to select from, and give you more options.

• Look for another app on this PC = Allows you to browse to and select an app to open this file with.

Look for an app in the Microsoft Store = Will open the Store app for you to select and install an app to open the file with.

Always use this app to open (file extension) files = If you check this box, it will set the selected app to always open this file type by default.










OPTION THREE [/i] To Choose Default Apps in Settings
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Apps icon.

2. Click/tap on Defaults apps on the left side, click/tap on an app type (ex: Email, Maps, Music player, Photo viewer, Video player, and Web broswer), and choose an app to be the default. (see screenshots below)

*note Look for an app in the Microsoft Store = Will open the Store app for you to select and install an app to open the app type with.









OPTION FOUR [/i] To Choose Default Apps by File Type in Settings
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Apps icon.

2. Click/tap on Defaults apps on the left side, and click/tap on the Choose default apps by file type link at the bottom of the right side. (see screenshot below)



3. Click/tap on Choose a default or current default app to the right of a file type, and choose an app to always open the file type with by default. (see screenshots below)

*note Look for an app in the Microsoft Store = Will open the Store app for you to select and install an app to open the file type with.





4. When finished choosing default apps by file type, you can close Settings if you like.





OPTION FIVE [/i] To Choose Default Apps by Protocol in Settings
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Apps icon.

2. Click/tap on Defaults apps on the left side, and click/tap on the Choose default apps by file protocol link at the bottom of the right side. (see screenshot below)



3. Click/tap on the current default app (ex: Mail) to the right of a protocol (ex: MAILTO), and choose an app to always open the protocol with by default.

*note Look for an app in the Microsoft Store = Will open the Store app for you to select and install an app to open the app type with.



4. When finished choosing default apps by protocol, you can close Settings if you like.





OPTION SIX [/i] To Set Defaults by App in Settings

*note This option is only available starting with Windows 10 build 16215.
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Apps icon.

2. Click/tap on Defaults apps on the left side, and click/tap on the Set defaults by app link at the bottom of the right side. (see screenshot below)



3. Click/tap on an app (ex: Photos) you want to set defaults for, and click/tap on the Manage button. (see screenshot below)



4. Click/tap on the current default app (ex: Photos) to the right of a file type (ex: ,jpg), and choose an app to always open the file type with by default.

*note Look for an app in the Microsoft Store = Will open the Store app for you to select and install an app to open the app type with.



5. When finished, you can close Settings if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Restore Default Apps for File Extension Type Associations in Windows 10
• How to Export and Import Custom Default App Associations for New Users in Windows 10
• How to Disable 'You have new apps that can open this type of file' Notification in Windows 10
• How to Fix 'An app default was reset' Error in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Open with Context Menu to BAT files in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Open with Context Menu to URL files in Windows 10
• How to Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Open with Context Menu in Windows 10
• How to Hide or Show File Name Extensions in Windows 10
• Add or Remove 'Look for an app in the Store' in Open with in Windows 10
• How to Remove Programs from "Open with" Context Menu in Windows
• How to Enable or Disable Microsoft Store Apps Open Files in Default Desktop App in Windows 10

:)

 

Now, each and every excel file opens in NOTEPAD.

Surprised installing Microsoft Office anew would not have set the file associations . . .



How to Choose Default Apps to Open Files with in Windows 10

[
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5507-default-apps-choose-windows-10-a.html ]

 

How do I change default photos in Windows 10 to Adobe Photoshop

See:

Choose Default apps in Windows 10

Choose Default Apps in Windows 10

Don

 

If you check the box, it should use the selected app to open the file by default just like in Windows 7. *Smile

 

i wanna do it via registry / cmd. otherwise ill need to click on each of the 50 extensions on every pc i setup

 

I haven't test this yet, but you might look at the Microsoft article below to see if using the DISM command in it to export and import default app associations may help.

You could set the default apps how you like on one PC, export the settings as an .xml file, then import them on other PCs.

DISM Default Application Association Servicing Command-Line Options

 

If this works, this sounds like a good plan. Thanks!

 

Once more, nanny MS interferes with user preferences -- repeatedly. Accidental? Then MS is INCOMPETENT. Deliberate? Then MS is INAPPROPRIATE. Take your pick, it matters not in the long run. It all ends up at a place called CORPORATE IRRESPONSIBILITY. And this is something MS has ALWAYS been identified with. MS is the child that never has grown up. (Much like its founder.) That's why MS can't even be a proper authoritarian parent, much less a sensible enterprise.

All the promises about Windows 10 being different are of course nonsense. And now we can add Intel to the mix. Its Management Engine Interface (MEI) and associated on-board chip on most main boards has rendered power management on laptops just about impossible in Windows 10 -- and it was already flaky in Win8.x and even sometimes in the somewhat passable Win7. My two (Dell Vostro 3350 from 2010, Acer v5-473 from 2014, both recently upgraded to Win10 Home and Pro respectively) won't hibernate, they won't sleep, they won't even shut down gracefully. All I can do is hold down the power button EVERY TIME. So I disabled the MEI driver in Device Manager as proposed by some in Internet tech forums, to who knows what effect -- but at least I can turn my pc's on and off again!

Maybe it's time for Mr BIG (Bill "It's all about me" Gates) and Intel's Andy Grove to do a Steve Jobs and actually get back to running their respective companies that made them amongst the world's richest people, and this time around actually make them provide the services and quality they have always promised and NEVER consistently delivered on. All MS and Intel have ever done is suck in developers with freebies or do other things to cornet the market, and then use their heavy weight to take users hostage. That is why Intel and MS never really fix things and keep them fixed. Why worry too much about the condition of the hostages, as long as they're breathing (and buying) and can't escape?

 

Is there a way to change the program which gets launched when you select "Edit" in the menu, like there was in Windows ME?

 

Hello Greg, *Smile

I haven't tested this in Windows 10, but it should work the same.

Edit Context Menu - Change Default Program in Windows

 

Although the test wasn't exactly extensive, I tried it for assigning GIMP 2 to image files, and it does work for that. Thanks. (I also discovered yet another thing that other people probably already know, which is that if you associate an editor with the "Open" option, the context menu changes, but at least it changes back if you switch to a viewer.)

 

I'm glad that it could help for that. *Smile

 

I'm not sure whether this is the best place to post this, but if an extension you need isn't listed, you can get it listed by right-clicking a file with that extension and selecting "Open with". The rest of the process is probably explained in another tutorial.

 

Does anybody know what to do when the "always use this app to open etc." checkbox is missing in the "open with" dialog? I've always re-associated file types in this way. Right-click on the file, "open with", "always use etc." But on my Laptop with a fresh Windows 10 installation, the checkbox is just not there. Why is that?

Edited to add: Nevermind, it finally worked. I went to Default Apps in the system settings to associate MKV files with Media Player Classic, and now the checkbox shows up too in the "open with" dialog. Of course now I don't need it anymore *Rolleyes Just another Windows hiccup.

 

For those of us that are less sophisticated in our technical understanding, or just plain stupid users (buy hey, we fund these operating systems by purchasing them) is there an example of how to use this? I am trying to associate .trec files with Camtasia Studio.

Interestingly, I have used Windows 10 for a considerable period of time now as well as using Camtasia, but just today, Windows 10 announces to me that it determined some problem with a file association and changed a default. Now, I cannot click on a .trec file and open it. I tried a repair operation on the installed software, with no effect.

.trec file types do not show up in the "Set Associations" dialog in the control panel.
Nor does the Camtasia application appear in the "Set Default Programs" dialog, though it does appear in the "Programs and Features" dialog.

Seems like my next step may need to be to try to uninstall and reinstall, but I get tired of doing that these days with apps and even the OS itself. Windows 10 is certainly NOT for the faint of heart. I am tempted to start dissecting the registry with a comparison against Windows 7 to sort it all out, but I have a day job already.

Thanks though, I am a big fan of Win 7 and Win 10 tutorials!