There are several ways to change the default program to open a certain file type in Windows. The following steps will take you through the process of setting or changing the default application that opens a given file type.
1. Locate and right-click on a file of the type which you want to change the default application for.
2. From the context menu, select ‘Open With’ and then select ‘Choose Default Program’.
3. A dialog box will appear, listing all the available programs which can open your chosen file type. Use the scroll bar to find the desired application and click to select it.
4. To make your selection the default for all files of that type, check the option ‘Always use the selected program to open this kind of file’, then click ‘OK’.
5. Your chosen application is now the default for that particular file type.
6. If you do not wish to make a permanent selection, choose ‘Open’ instead of ‘Choose Default Program’ from Step 2 above. This will automatically open the chosen file in the selected application, but will not make it the default.
If you are using Windows XP or earlier, follow these instructions instead:
1. Open the folder containing the file type with which you wish to change the default program.
2. Right-click on any file of that type, and then select ‘Open With’.
3. A dialog box will appear, listing all the available applications which can open your chosen file type. Select the desired application and check the option, ‘Always use the selected program to open this kind of file’. Then click ‘OK’.
4. The selected application is now the default for that particular file type.
As previously stated, if you don’t wish to make a permanent selection when using either method, simply choose ‘Open’ instead of ‘Choose Default Program’ or ‘Always use the selected program…’ at Step 2 or 3 respectively.
In more recent versions of Windows, you can also change file type associations via the Control Panel. To do this, go to the Control Panel, select Programs and then select ‘Default Programs’. On the left side of the screen, select ‘Associate a file type or protocol with a program’. All the file types associated with an application are listed down the middle of the screen. Click on the file type you want to change, and then select ‘Change Program’ on the right-hand side of the screen. You should then be presented with a list of applications capable of opening that particular file type. Select the desired application and then click ‘OK’. The selected application will now be the default for that file type.
Using any of the methods outlined above, you can easily change the default application for any given file type in Windows.