When it comes to opening files on your computer, Windows does this based on the type of file you are trying to open. If Windows didn’t do this, then you would somehow have to manually choose an app to open a file each time. You probably also noticed that your files have icons that match the program used to open them.
I’m sure you have noticed that at the end of your files there is usually a dot or period and then 3 or 4 letters or numbers such as Report.xlxs. This is what is known as a file extension that is used for Windows file associations. Windows uses file associations to determine what program to use to open a certain type of file. For example, Windows will know that resume.docx is to be opened using Microsoft Word since .docx is the file extension for Word.
There may come a time when you want to use a different program to open a certain type of file or you may also have a type of file that Windows doesn’t know how to open. If that’s the case then you can change the file association or in other words, change the program Windows uses to open that type of file. This is not the same as changing the file extension for the file itself because generally you do not want to do that because you will most likely not be able to open the file afterwards. There are some cases such as renaming image files from .jpeg to .jpg which will work, but its rare.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to open File Explorer and browse to where your file is located. Then you can right click the file and choose Open With and then choose a program from the list.
If the program is not listed there, then you can click on Choose another app instead.
Next you will be presented with an Open With dialog box.
You can then choose another program from the list or scroll down to where it says Choose an app on your PC and browse to the location of that program on your computer. Then you can click on Just once to have Windows use that app to open your file one time or choose the Always button to have the file association changed to the new program. If you choose the always option, then each time you double click on a file with that particular extension, Windows will try and open it with that program. So you want to make sure you choose a program that can actually open that file type. If you mess this up or change your mind, you can come back to any file with that extension and redo the process and change the associated program.
If you are looking for a good app to help you find your files quickly then you may want to check out Listary File Search.
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