Change which programs Windows 7 uses by default

A default program is the program that Windows uses when you open a particular type of file, such as a music file, an image, or a webpage. For example, if you have more than one web browser installed on your computer, you can choose one of them to be the default browser.

Open Default Programs by clicking the Start button and then clicking Default Programs.

In Default Programs, you can:

Use this option to choose which programs you want Windows to use, by default.

If a program does not show up in the list, you can make the program a default by using Set Associations.

Open Default Programs by clicking the Start button and then clicking Default Programs.

Click Associate a file type or protocol with a program.

Click the file type or protocol that you want the program to act as the default for.

Click Change program.

Click the program that you want to use as the default for the file type you selected, or click the arrow next to Other Programs to show additional programs. (If you don’t see Other Programs, or your program is not listed, click Browse to find the program you want to use, and then click Open. If no other programs are installed that are able to open the file type or protocol, your choices will be limited.)

If you don’t see the program you want to use as the default, click the arrow next to Other Programs to see a list of programs available on your computer.

Note: You cannot change an association for a file type or protocol and leave it blank or disassociated. You must select a new program.

The options you set here only apply to your user account. Your choices won’t affect other user accounts on this computer.

Use this option to fine-tune default programs based on the file type or protocol. For example, you can have all .jpg image files open using a specific program, and .bmp image files open using a different program.

You can also change which programs to use to start different kinds of media, such as music CDs or DVDs that contain photos.

Set Program Access and Computer Defaults (available in Windows 7) is a tool to set default programs for activities such as browsing the web and sending e‑mail for everyone who uses the computer.

How to change default programs on Windows 10?

Original title:- Change Default apps

Want to change default apps to Google maps or GMail and cannot figure out how to do that. Everything defaults to a Microsoft app or leads to the Microsoft store. I can manually go where I need to but it would be easier if I could just use the system the way t should be. Same issue with photos, etc.

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

We regret the inconvenience caused to you. Let me assist you.

I understand you are facing difficulty changing the default programs according to your preference on Windows 10. I suggest you to refer the below article for the steps to set a program as default.

You may also set your desired web browser as default using the above link.

If the above steps doesn’t work, try to reset to default app from Settings > Default app and click on Reset.

For photos and desktop apps you may try the below steps and check if it helps.

1. Right click on any photo in your system, click on Properties.

2. Under General tab, click on Change and select the application to view the photos with.

3. Click on Ok, Apply and Ok.

In case of mails, you may use the Windows 10 Mail app and configure your Gmail account on it. Refer the below link to set up your email on the Mail App.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

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How to Change the Default Program to Open a File With

So you don’t have to do it every time

Every file on your PC has a program out there to open it. If the software isn’t installed, your system will tell you so, and will ask for instructions on what software it should try to use to open it. Windows, macOS and other platforms match certain file extensions to default programs. If the software isn’t there, the files can’t open.

That’s why Microsoft Word opens when you try to open a DOCX file if you have Microsoft Office installed. If you’d prefer to open that file in another program like LibreOffice instead, then you’ll need to change the default program in Windows 10 or macOS for that file type.

How To Change Default Program in Windows 10

Changing file associations in Windows 10 is pretty easy to do, and there are a couple of ways in which you can do it.

• If you’re looking to change a default program in Windows 10 and you have a file with the same file format on your drive, you can easily change the application that opens it by right-clicking the file in Windows File Explorer (or on your desktop), hovering over the Open with menu, and clicking the Choose another app option.

• In the How do you want to open this file? selection window, Windows will automatically attempt to identify software you have installed that may work with that file. To view a full list of installed software on your PC, click the More apps option at the bottom of the list, or Look for an app in the Microsoft Store to search for software capable of opening it in the Microsoft Store.
• Once you’ve selected the right software, click to enable the Always use this app to open checkbox to ensure that that software you’ve selected always opens that file type. Click OK to open the file and change the default program Windows uses for this file type to your selected app.

Some types of software, such as web browsers, aren’t usually used to open files on your PC, making it difficult to use the above method to change the default program. You may also be looking for a method to change multiple file types at once, which you may do if you’re changing the default media player on your PC, for instance.

In both cases, you’ll need to change the default program for your file or web protocol in the Windows Settings menu instead.

• To do this, right-click the Windows Start menu and press the Settings option. In the Settings menu, click Apps > Default apps. This will display a list of some of the more common programs you might use, such as your web browser or email client.

• To change any of these, click on one of the options and select a replacement. For instance, clicking the Web browser option will give you the option to select Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, or a third-party browser you may have installed like Google Chrome. You can also click Look for an app in the Microsoft Store to search for alternatives to install instead.

• Only a select number of potential programs are listed here, however. To change all of the default programs Windows uses by their associated file type, press the Choose default apps by file type option in the Default apps menu. Alternatively, press Choose default apps by protocol to change associations for web URLs, for instance.

• Windows will display a long list of known file types in the next menu. To change any of these, click on the known option for that type and select from the list that appears in the Choose an app menu. If there isn’t an existing default app applied, click Choose a default and select an option. For file types that have no known software installed, click Look for an app in the Microsoft Store for potential alternatives.

• Any changes you make will be applied immediately. If you need to reset these default program settings at a later date, return to the Default apps menu and click the Reset button.

How To Change Default Program in macOS

If you want to change the default program on a Mac, you’ll need a file in the file format you’re looking to open.

• To start, open the Finder app and find the location of your file. To change the file association for that file type, right-click the file, then press Open With > Other.

• Finder will ask you to select the app you’d like to use to open that file. Select an appropriate app from the Applications menu, then click to enable the Always Open With checkbox to make sure that you change the default program on Mac to that application. Press Open to open the file and save your selected program as the default option to open that file type in the process.

• You can also change this setting by right-clicking a file in Finder and clicking the Get Info option.

• In the Info window for your file, click to open the Open With subcategory. From here, you can select a new application to open files with the same file type. Select an alternative app from the menu, then press the Change All button to apply the change to all files with the same file type.

• The methods above will work for almost all apps and file types, but you’ll need to follow a different method to change the default web browser on macOS. To do this, press the Apple menu icon in the top-left area of the menu bar, then click the System Preferences option.

• In System Preferences, click the General option. In the General menu, select an alternative web browser from the Default web browser drop-down menu. Any changes you make will be applied immediately.

Replacing Old Software on Windows and macOS

If you want to change the default program in Windows 10 or macOS, you’ll need software installed to replace it. You could look to replace outdated paid software with newer, more up-to-date open-source software alternatives that won’t cost you anything to install or use.

Replacing older software on macOS is a little trickier, as you may find that equivalents to the software you’re happy using just doesn’t exist, especially if you’re switching from Windows. If you’re having trouble, you may need to allow unverified apps to install, but make sure that you only install software from sources you trust.

Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing. Read Ben’s Full Bio

How to change or set Default Programs in Windows 10

The Windows operating system allocates a program by default for opening certain file types, but you can easily change and open them in the program of your choice. For example, pictures in Windows now open with a new Photos app – but you may prefer opening them with other programs such as the Picture Manager which load quickly – or Paint, which even provides instant editing features at hand.

Of course, you can right-click on a file and select the program that you would like to open it with. However, you can use this method for a single file type only. For more than one file type at a time, you will be required to make the changes through the Control Panel. Let us see how to do it in Windows 10/8/7.

Change Default Programs in Windows 10

Press Win+X to bring up the Power Tasks Menu and choose ‘Control Panel’ from the list of options displayed. Once in the Control Panel screen, choose ‘Programs’.

Then, click on the ‘Default Programs’ link.

The Default Programs screen will request you to choose the program that you would like Windows to use by default. Click on ‘Set your default programs’ link.

Choose a program to open all file types and programs by default and click on ‘Set this program as default’ option and click on ‘OK’.

Another alternative and very short way to choose the default program is to right-click on any file which you want to open and choosing the ‘Open with’ option to display Choose default program option from its menu.

This alternative method opens a window wherein you can select a program and make it as your default program for opening certain file types.

In Windows 10, to set default apps you will have to go to Settings > Apps > Default apps.

You can even choose defaults by

1. Apps
2. File type
3. Protocol

and set the defaults.

Date: September 5, 2019 Tags: Default Programs