Have you ever encountered the frustrating situation where you double-click on a file, only to have it open in the wrong application? Or maybe you have multiple applications that can open the same file type, but you want to set a default one for convenience. Fear not, as Windows has a simple solution for this problem – finding and changing the default application for opening file types.
Step 1: Open the Control Panel
To begin, open the Control Panel on your Windows computer. You can do this by clicking on the Start menu and typing “Control Panel” in the search bar. Once the Control Panel appears, click on it to open.
Step 2: Go to Default Programs
In the Control Panel, find and click on the “Default Programs” option. This will open a new window with various options related to setting default programs on your computer.
Step 3: Choose “Set your default programs”
In the Default Programs window, you will see multiple options such as “Set program access and computer defaults” and “Associate a file type or protocol with a program”. For our purpose, choose the option “Set your default programs”.
Step 4: Select the desired program
Once you have clicked on “Set your default programs”, a list of all the programs installed on your computer will appear. Scroll through the list and find the program you want to set as the default for opening a specific file type. For example, if you want to set Adobe Acrobat as the default program for opening PDF files, click on it.
Step 5: Click on “Set this program as default”
After selecting the desired program, click on the “Set this program as default” button on the right-hand side. This will set the chosen program as the default for all file types associated with it.
Step 6: Set default programs for specific file types
If you want to set a default program for a specific file type, you can do so by clicking on the “Choose defaults for this program” option. This will open a list of all the file types that the chosen program can open. Check the box next to the file type you want to set as default and click on “Save”.
Step 7: Set default programs for all file types
If you want to set a default program for all file types, go back to the list of programs and click on “Choose defaults for this program” for the program you want to set as default. This will open a list of all the file types associated with the chosen program. Check the box next to “Select All” and click on “Save”.
Step 8: Test the changes
Once you have followed all the above steps, test the changes by double-clicking on a file of the chosen file type. It should now open in the default program you have set.
Congratulations, you have successfully set the default application for opening file types on your Windows computer. This simple solution can save you time and frustration in the long run, as you no longer have to manually choose the desired program each time you open a file. So go ahead and customize your default programs to suit your needs.
