Change the App That Opens When You Double-Click a File in Windows 10

This short but detailed guide will explain how to change the app that opens when you double-click a in Windows 10.

When you double-click a file in Windows 10, that file will open up with what we call a “default” app. But what if you want to change the program that opens from whatever it is now to something different? Follow these instructions to change the app that opens when you double-click a file, based on the file type. In this example we’re going to change the program that opens .pdf files on my Windows PC from Microsoft Edge (the default) to SumatraPDF – my favorite PDF viewer.

  1. Click the Windows 10 “Start button” and then select Settings (the “gear” icon). Select Apps from the list of Windows Settings
  2. the Windows 10 Settings Panel

  3. Select Default apps from the column on the left side of the panel and then scroll down and select Choose default apps by file type from the right side of the panel.
  4. the Apps Settings with arrows pointing to Default apps and Choose default apps by file type

  5. Scroll through the list of file types until you find the one you want to change. In my example it’s .pdf. Then click the app next to that file type, which in my case is Microsoft Edge
  6. a list of Windows file types and the Apps that open them

  7. When you click on the app name a list of other apps will appear. These are the ones you can choose to open up when you double-click this file type.
  8. change the app that opens files Windows 10

  9. Make sure your selected app is now the one listed next to the file extension.
  10. Find a file of the type you just changed, double-click it and make sure it opens up in the right app. Repeat this process as needed with different file types. Now you know how to change change the default app by file type in Windows 10!

If you find that Windows repeatedly changes your preferred default apps we have a guide that explains how to force Windows to stop changing the default apps.


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