The most common default apps include email, maps, music player, video player, photo viewer, and web browser etc. You can also set default apps by filetype or even protocol. There are times when a file is not open in your desired application. In this article, we will discuss this situation and how to fix it by adjusting Windows settings in different ways.
Why is the file not opening in the desired program?
The main reason behind files not opening in your desired program is that the program is not set as a default for that particular file type or protocol. Binding the file type with the app will fix this issue.
How do I configure files to open in the desired program?
1. Using Windows Settings
For higher versions of Windows, you can easily adjust which file should open in what program. Here’s how: For example, to play music, Microsoft suggests I use the groove music app. But I wish to change it. Simply click on the app and it will show you other options to play with. If I select Windows Media Player, it will be set as the default app and next time Windows will always play music with Windows Media Player Similarly, you can select the app you wish to open the file with, using the same procedure I provided in example
2. Using Open With Menu
You can also select with which app you want to open the file while opening it. Here’s how:
3. Using Group Policy Editor
If you are a sysadmin or a Power user who wants to set the filetype defaults as per your own requirements, you can use the Group Policy to implement it on multiple users and computers. We will go through all the steps of using the group policy editor to create a default associations file and then applying it on the complete network using Active Directory group policy or on a single computer but for all users.
4. Using the Windows Registry
If the above mentioned methods don’t work, you can use the Windows Registry to set and tweak the default file associations. The Registry method is also useful when you want to create a single file and distribute it to other users to apply the same settings without configuring anything. Simply running the registry file will make the required changes. This is a long process to create a new file type. You can easily change the current file types easily using the same method. Also see: How to monitor the system for Registry changes.
How do I reset the default program for opening files?
If you want to reset the default programs for opening files you can do that using Windows settings. Follow these steps:
