Windows 10: Restore Default File Type Associations in Windows 10

How to: Restore Default File Type Associations in Windows 10

How to Restore Default Apps for File Type Associations in Windows 10


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

Default app associations for file extensions are a per user setting by default, so you will need to be signed in to the user account you want to restore the default associations of a file extension for.

This tutorial will show you how to restore the default registry entries and app associations of a file extension type or protocol of your choice in Windows 10.

This can be helpful for example when a file extension type opens with the wrong app by default.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Reset All File Associations to Microsoft Recommended Defaults
• Option Two: To Restore Specific File Type or Protocol Association to Default

OPTION ONE [/i] To Reset All File Associations to Microsoft Recommended Defaults

*note This option will reset all file type and protocol associations to the Microsoft recommended defaults for only your user account.
1. For how, see: How to Choose Default Apps to Open Files with in Windows 10









OPTION TWO [/i] To Restore Specific File Type or Protocol Association to Default

*note This option will reset the associations, icon, and registry entries of the downloaded file type or protocol back to default.

The list of default file extension and protocol associations available to download in the table below is just a start for now, and is a work in progress. I will constantly be adding more to the list, but if you need one that is not yet listed, then please post a request for it. I'll be happy to get it added to the list.
1. Click/tap on the link of the file type or protocol in the table below that you would like to restore the default associations of to download it's .reg file.

2. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

3. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to Merge it.

4. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

*note If you are signed in as a standard user account, then you will also get a Cannot import type error. Just click/tap OK for it. The part of the downloaded .reg file that is responsible for all users can only be successfully merged by an administrator account. The downloaded .reg file will still restore the default associations for your account.

If the .reg file is not able to Merge, then double check in Default Programs to make sure that the .reg file extension has its Current Default program set as Registry Editor (C:\Windows\regedit.exe). Afterwards, try merging the .reg file again.

5. restart the computer to apply.

6. If you are logged in as a standard user and this still does not help, then have the administrator also merge the needed .reg file for the listed file extension or protocol below while logged into their administrator account.

7. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
*tip If you would like to download all available file extensions from the table below at once, here's a ZIP file of them.

Download


[table][tr][td]File Type or Protocol[/td] [td]Default App[/td] [td]Description[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]ani[/td] [td][/td] [td]Animated Cursor[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]AudioCD[/td] [td][/td] [td]Audio CD protocol associations[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]avi[/td] [td]Movies & TV[/td] [td]Audio Video Interleave (AVI) files[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]bak[/td] [td][/td] [td]Usually used to rename a file extension of a file with to make it a backup copy.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]bat[/td] [td][/td] [td]Windows batch file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]bin[/td] [td][/td] [td]BIN file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]bmp[/td] [td]Photos[/td] [td]Bitmap image file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]cab[/td] [td][/td] [td]Cabinet file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]chm[/td] [td]Microsoft HTML Help Executable[/td] [td]Compiled HTML Help file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]cmd[/td] [td][/td] [td]Windows Command Script[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]com[/td] [td][/td] [td]MS-DOS Application[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]crl[/td] [td]Crypto Shell Extensions[/td] [td]Certificate Revocation list[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]css[/td] [td]Notepad[/td] [td]Cascading Style Sheet document[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]cur[/td] [td][/td] [td]Cursor[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]dat[/td] [td][/td] [td]Generic data file created by a specific app; typically accessed only by the app that created the file; may contain data in text or binary format; text-based DAT files can be viewed in a text editor.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]dds[/td] [td][/td] [td]DirectDraw Surface (DDS_ file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]diagcab[/td] [td]Diagnostics Troubleshooting Wizard[/td] [td]Troubleshooting Pack Cabinet file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Directory[/td] [td][/td] [td]Directory protocol associations[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]divx[/td] [td]Movies & TV[/td] [td]DivX video file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]dll[/td] [td][/td] [td]Application extension[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Drive[/td] [td][/td] [td]Drives[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]epub[/td] [td]Microsoft Edge[/td] [td]Electronic publication file (aka: eBook)[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]exe[/td] [td][/td] [td]Executable application files[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Folder[/td] [td][/td] [td]All folders except library[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]gif[/td] [td]Photos[/td] [td]Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) image files[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]htm[/td] [td]Microsoft Edge[/td] [td]HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) document files[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]html[/td] [td]Microsoft Edge[/td] [td]HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) document files[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/choose-default-apps-in-windows-10.8988/#option2']Open with[/url], and click on Choose default program[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Package[/td] [td][/td] [td]Resource package file.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]pdf[/td] [td]Microsoft Edge[/td] [td]Portable Document Format (PDF) file.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]png[/td] [td]Photos[/td] [td]Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is a bitmap compression method for image files. PNG supports 16.7 million colors, it is lossless and also supports index color, grayscale, true color, transparency, and is streamable. It is thus the best compression method (better than GIF or JPEG) for use on the web.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]ps1[/td] [td]Notepad[/td] [td]Windows PowerShell Script[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]RDP[/td] [td]Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe)[/td] [td]Remote Desktop Connection[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]reg[/td] [td]Registry Editor[/td] [td]Registration entries[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]res[/td] [td][/td] [td]Resource file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]rtf [/td] [td]WordPad[/td] [td]Rich Text Document file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]scr[/td] [td][/td] [td]Screen saver[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]sys[/td] [td][/td] [td]System file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]svg[/td] [td]Internet Explorer[/td] [td]Scalable Vector Graphics document[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]theme[/td] [td]Personalization CPL[/td] [td]Windows theme file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]themepack[/td] [td]Personalization CPL[/td] [td]Windows theme pack file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]tif[/td] [td]Windows Photo Viewer[/td] [td]Tagged Image files Format.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]tiff[/td] [td]Windows Photo Viewer[/td] [td]Tagged Image files Format.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]txt[/td] [td]Notepad[/td] [td]Text document file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]url[/td] [td]Internet Browser[/td] [td]Internet shortcut[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]vbs[/td] [td]Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (wscript.exe)[/td] [td]VBScript Script File[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]vhd[/td] [td][/td] [td]Virtual Hard Disk image file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]vhdx[/td] [td][/td] [td]Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk image file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]wav[/td] [td]Groove Music[/td] [td]Wave audio file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]wma[/td] [td]Groove Music[/td] [td]Windows Media Audio file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]wmv[/td] [td]Movies & TV[/td] [td]Windows Media Audio/Video file[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]xml[/td] [td]Internet Explorer[/td] [td]XML Document[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]xps[/td] [td]XPS Viewer[/td] [td]XPS Document[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]zip[/td] [td][/td] [td]Compressed (zipped) folder[/td] [/tr] [/table]


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Choose Default Apps to Open Files with in Windows 10
• How to Export and Import Custom Default App Associations for New Users in Windows 10
• How to Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10
• How to Fix 'An app default was reset' Error in Windows 10
• How to Hide or Show File Name Extensions in Windows 10

:)

 

files not opening with .exe extension

Have you tried to restore the .exe association to default? See:
https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/restore-default-file-type-associations-in-windows-10.7770/

For .exe it would be this reg file:
https://www.tenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/52455d1449507854-default-file-type-associations-restore-windows-10-a-exe.reg

 

Media Player Won't Let Me Download Fonts from DaFont.com

Try the following:

Default File Type Associations - Restore in Windows 10 - Windows

 

Thank you. Yeah, that would be good for a new tutorial to backup and restore file associations. *Smile

New tutorial: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8...s-windows.html

 

Hey Brink, I opened a file (tw10428.dat) with Microsoft word instead of renaming it to a BAK file.

If you are able to add a BAK file to your list of downloads it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all of the hard work and sensitivity you've put into this.

 

Hello JuicyTang, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

bak added.

Would you need one for .dat instead then?

 

Well the original file was in the .dat format but I'm trying to change it to a .bak. Doing so will allow me to revert French language to English on the program I installed. I believe...

 

Bak was added to the list, but it will unassociate bat files if it will help.

 

Thanks again, just opened the program and it has miraculously changed from French to English, no clue how it happened, but not complaining *Wink.

Anyways, I'm sure I'll need to use that .bak file sometime or another *Wink.

 

PNG.

I am having a very difficult time trying to be able to fix stuff so that I can see thumbnails of PNG files in Windows Explorer. Ugh.

Thank you for your work,

 

Hello @edsager, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

I have added png to the list. I hope it will help.

 

Thanks! I hope so too!

Again thank you,

 

You're most welcome. Please let us know how it went.

 

On first use, it worked for about 10%-15% of the image files.

But then I right-clicked on one of the PNG files that was still an icon and chose to have the Photos app be the default program to open this type of file, and voila! It worked!

Everything back to normal.

Phew.

Thanks again,

 

Great news edsager. *Smile