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What to do when "Open With..." doesn't work properly in the Windows context menu

2/25/2015

2 Comments

 
So, you want to tell Windows to always open certain filetypes with a certain program. You right-click on a file in Windows explorer, and hover over "Open-With...". A list of applications pops up, but the program you want isn't on there. So you select "Choose default program...". You get a popup with a list of "Recommended programs", but the program you want isn't there either.


You hit "Browse", and find the .exe of your program yourself. So far so good. Now you hit "Open". Everything seems to work......but wait - the program you supposedly selected doesn't actually appear in the list, and double-clicking the file still opens it using the previous default program. Huh?

This happened to me when I tried to make Photoshop the default program for the file extensions JPG, PNG, or PSB. Have you had a similar problem? If so, I've got another question for you: the program you're trying to use - has it ever been updated or had its location changed? If so, you're probably in luck. Try the solution below.

  • Download a little utility called Open With View (scroll down to the Download OpenWithView link).
  • Extract the ZIP archive and run OpenWithView.exe
  • Look for your desired program in the left column (in my case it was Photoshop.exe)
  • Look over to the "Command Line" column and check the program location. Is it outdated or incorrect? (in my case it was C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC\Photoshop.exe, when it should have been C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2014\Photoshop.exe)
  • Right-click the program and choose Disable selected items. Close the OpenWithView utility
  • You can now go back to Windows Explorer and try changing the "open with..." settings again, with the usual method. It should work now
  • reopen OpenWithView and right-click your program, then select Enable selected items


That worked a treat for me. I hope it worked for you.




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2 Comments
susanne Tamir
11/18/2015 11:14:50 pm

Hi Dave
I looked such a long time to find the solution for this! Now this worked Thank you soooo much Susanne

Reply
192.168.1.1 link
6/20/2020 02:30:17 pm

Thank you for the nice information. I hope to see more from you.

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    I'm Dave Bleja of Volnaiskra. I'm a game designer, graphics artist, and PC power user.

    I write about all of these things. I try to make my posts as useful and well-written as possible.

    If you enjoy my content, do me a solid and check out my game!

    My indie game

    In 2014 I quit my job to found a game studio and devote my time to making Spryke, the game I've always dreamed of playing. Go check it out!

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