- Cannot Change File Association Windows 7
- Change Default File Association Windows 7
- Set File Association Windows 7
- Change Default File Association Windows 7 For All Users
- Change File Association Icon Windows 7
Windows can only open one program for a particular file extension automatically, so if you like to work with your PNG files in Photoshop Elements, for example, and not Paint, changing the default file association for PNG files is required.
Under Registered file types, scroll down until you find the file extension that you want to change the default program association for. Choose the extension to highlight it. Select Change in the lower section.
- Apr 01, 2017 This tutorial shows how to change, restore, set or fix change file associations and extensions in Windows 10/8/7, using Control Panel or Types free tool.
- When the list of file extensions and protocols (listed at the bottom) has loaded, find the one you're interested in, click on it, and click on the 'Change program' button to create a new association. The 'Set your default programs' link shows what we did in Set your default browser in Windows 7.
- In Windows 7, there are two methods you can use to change file associations. Method 1: Right-click an individual file. To change the file association for a specific file type, right-click on a file and select Open With → Choose default program. In the screenshot below, Microsoft Notepad is currently associated with '.txt' files since it.
- One thing to note is that the user will need to log out and log in again to reload the changes to the registry which also updates the change to the file extensions. Marked as answer by robwm1 Monday, May 7, 2012 10:26 PM.
How to change the default program a file opens with in Windows 7. First, click on the Windows 7 Start button. This is the small round button in the lower left corner of your screen that has a Windows flag on it. When the Start Menu opens, type set association in the search field as shown in the image below. Scroll down to the file type you want to change, in my case it is “TXT, then select “Change Program in the top left corner. Change windows 7 file assocation 4) You will then see the open with application, simply locate the application you would like to use and click ok.
Follow the easy steps below to change a file type's program association in Windows.
Instructions in this article apply to Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista.
Time Required: It'll take less than five minutes to change the program that's associated with a particular file extension, no matter which Windows operating system you're using or what file type we're talking about.
Setting a program's default file association does not restrict other programs that support the file type from working with them in other situations. More on this at the bottom of the page.
Cannot Change File Association Windows 7
How to Change File Associations in Windows 10
Windows 10 uses Settings instead of Control Panel to make changes to file type associations.
Right-click the Start button (or hit the WIN+X hotkey) and choose Settings.
Choose Default apps on the left.
Scroll down a little and select Choose default apps by file type.
Locate the file extension for which you want to change the default program.
If you're not sure what extension the file is using, open File Explorer to find the file and use the View > File name extensions option to show file extensions.
In the Choose default apps by file type window, select the program to the right of the file extension. If there isn't one listed, select Choose a default instead.
In the Choose an apppop-up window, pick a new program to associate with that file extension. If there isn't one listed that you want to use, try Look for an app in the Store.
Windows 10 will now open the program you chose each time you open a file with that extension from File Explorer.
When you're done, you can close any windows you opened to make these changes.
How to Change File Associations in Windows 8, 7, or Vista
Open Control Panel. In Windows 8, the Power User Menu (WIN+X) is the quickest way. Use the Start menu in Windows 7 or Vista.
You'll only see this link if you're on the Category or Control Panel Home view of Control Panel. Otherwise, choose Default Programs instead, followed by Associate a file type or protocol with a program link. Skip to Step 4.
Select Associate a file type or protocol with a program on the following page.
Once the Set Associations tool loads, which should only take a second or two, scroll down the list until you see the file extension that you want to change the default program for.
If you're not sure what extension the file in question has, right-click it (or tap-and-hold) the file, go to Properties, and look for the file extension in the 'Type of file' line of the General tab.
Choose the Change program button, located just above the scroll bar.
What you see next, and the next step to take, depend on what version of Windows you're using. See What Version of Windows Do I Have? if you're not sure which set of instructions to follow.
Windows 8: From the 'How do you want to open this type of file [file extension]?' window you see now, look through the list and select the program you'd like to open when you double-click or double-tap these types of files. Try More optionsfor the complete list.
Windows 7 & Vista: From the 'Open with' window that popped up, look through the programs listed and choose the one you'd like to open for this extension. The Recommended Programs are probably the most applicable, but there may be Other Programs listed, too. Use Browse to manually locate a program.
Select OK if you see it, and Windows will refresh the list of file associations to show the new default program assigned to this file type. You can close the Set Associations window if you're done making changes.
From this point forward, when you double-click or double-tap on any file with this particular file extension, the program you chose to associate with it in Step 8 will automatically launch and load the particular file.
How to Change File Associations in Windows XP
Go to Start > Control Panel to open Control Panel.
You'll only see that link if you're using the Category View of Control Panel. If you're instead using the Classic View, choose Folder Options instead and then skip to Step 4.
Select Folder Options near the bottom of the window.
Under Registered file types, scroll down until you find the file extension that you want to change the default program association for.
Choose the extension to highlight it.
Select Change in the lower section.
From the Open With screen that you're now looking at, choose the program you'd like to open the file type with by default.
If you don't see that screen, choose Select the program from a list, and then OK.
The most common programs that support this particular file type will be listed under the Recommended Programs or Programs list, but there may be other programs that support the file as well, in which case you can manually select one with the Browse button.
Select OK and then Close back on the Folder Options window. You can also close any Control Panel or Appearance and Themes windows that might still be open.
Going forward, any time you open a file with the extension you chose back on Step 6, the program you chose in Step 8 will be opened automatically and the file will be loaded within that program.
More About Changing File Associations
Changing a program's file association doesn't mean that another supporting program can't open the file, it just means that it won't be the program that opens when you double-tap or double-click on those types of files.
To use another program with the file, you'll just need to start that other program manually first, and then browse your computer for the particular file to open it. For example, you can open Microsoft Word and use its File > Open menu to open a DOC file that is normally associated with OpenOffice Writer, but doing so doesn't actually change the file association for DOC files as explained above.
Also, changing the file association doesn't change the file type. To change the file type is to change the structure of the data so that it can be considered to exist in a different format. Changing the file's type/format is usually done with a file conversion tool.
I don't know if somebody already resolved this problem but I just happened to figure this out.
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Except you didn't read the title.
We don't want to know how to choose what program 'opens' ... (that's the only thing you CAN do in Win7..)... we want to know how to assign other actions...
Like edit, view, preview,
or add custom ones like
'edit in photothing'
'edit in mspaint'
edit in my finger painting app'...
etc...
Anything but open is difficult or impossible with Windows 0-- where once it was trivial.
MS is really dumming down and removing features as they put out new version -- AND raising prices...
If you look at everything you got in WinXP-Pro -- that's the equivalent of what they call Win7-Ultimate today. You go a level down and you are missing domain security (which I use at home), OR you lose media play ability -- both things XP had ....
But wait, for all these fewer features and greater cost -- you also get a 15-30% slowdown on all OS related functions!
Remember the good old dialup days when there was a 'lag' between when you pressed your keys and they were echoed (because they had to go to the remove site which did the echo?)----In Win7 you get that same feeling -- keys are lagged as they are shipped off to someplace for inspection...
Remember type-ahead? Win7 drops keys regularlly -- so can't rely on it...
And lets not forget several people's fav -- lack of home-network searching!.... Sure if you buy MS SErver and run it at home, you're set, but any other network drive.... they gave us the pooch.
And now they are blythely moving on to Win8?? Gawd ... I see how Vista users really felt like suckers. MS, what's wrong with you? Are you determined to kill the **personal computer**??
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Leaving the above orignal content.
But I get updates on this and don't understand the whiner's upsets -- the question was answered BEFORE this follow up pose by Shawn Keene on July 13, 2011, The fact that my follow up got moved up under his was because others agreed with my 'grumblings'.
Change Default File Association Windows 7
But Shawn points to the below (http://izt.name/apps/types/). So if you want to solve your problems, learn to read, as his answer was posted before my followup, AND is above mine in the reading order.
Types is a simple Windows utility that allows you
to add and remove file types, set program associations,
change icons, edit context menus and other properties.
Set File Association Windows 7
Place language files either next to the downloaded Setup.exe
or into the installation folder (default: C:Program filesTypes).
Press F1 to select your language, then restart the program.