ARCHIVED: In Windows, how do I change what program opens a file type?

If you double-click a file in Windows and it opens in the wrong program, follow these steps to change the default program that opens it. You can change this setting for an individual file, or you can tell Windows to open all files of that same type in a particular program.

Windows 8

1. Open the folder containing the file you want to change.
2. Right-click the file you want to change, and then, depending on the type of file, either click Open With or point to Open With and then click Choose Default Program.
3. If you want all files of that type to open in the same software program, leave the box checked for Use this app for all .ext files, where .ext denotes the extension of the file you chose. Otherwise, uncheck the box.
4. Click the program you want to use to open this file.

Windows 7 or Vista

1. Open the folder containing the file you want to change.
2. Right-click the file you want to change, and then, depending on the type of file, either click Open With or point to Open With and then click Choose Default Program.
3. Click the program you want to use to open this file.
4. If you want all files of that type to open in the same software program, select Always use the selected program to open this kind of file, and then click OK. Otherwise, leave the box unchecked. Then click OK.