- Change default program for file type windows 7 full#
- Change default program for file type windows 7 windows#
NOTE: The " Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" option is automatically selected in Method 2 and cannot be unchecked. Once you have selected your preferred program, click " OK" to change the file association. This window allows you to select the default program for the selected file type. The " Open with" dialog box appears, similar to the one in Method 1. To change a file association for a specific file type, select the file type in the list and click the " Change program." button. Each item in the list includes the file extension, a basic description of the file type, and the current default program associated with the extension.
Change default program for file type windows 7 windows#
The resulting window displays a list of all the file associations configured for Windows 7. Next, select " Associate a file type or protocol with a program," as shown below. To access this list, select Start → Default Programs.
Change default program for file type windows 7 full#
This method allows you to view and modify the full list of file associations available in Windows 7. Method 2: Use the "Set Associations" Control Panel Now the file association for text files is set to Microsoft WordPad, so each time you double-click a text file with the “.txt” file extension, it opens in Microsoft WordPad. NOTE: To permanently change the file association, make sure to select the option " Always use the selected program to open this kind of file." If you do not check this box, the file will open once in the selected program, but the file association will not be changed. In the example below, clicking OK would set WordPad as the default program for all ".txt" files. Once you have selected a program, click " OK". If you do not see your preferred program in the list, you can click the " Browse." button to locate the program you want to use. This window allows you to select a default program for the selected file type.
When you select " Choose default program.", the following " Open with" dialog box appears. In the screenshot below, Microsoft Notepad is currently associated with ".txt" files since it appears at the top of the list. To change the file association for a specific file type, right-click on a file and select Open With → Choose default program. In Windows 7, there are two methods you can use to change file associations. Instead of Notepad, you can associate a different program, like Microsoft WordPad, with all files that have a ".txt" extension. If you prefer to use another program to open plain text files, you can change the file association. For example, in Windows 7, Microsoft Notepad opens.
File associations determine what programs automatically open specific file types on your computer.