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Questions & Answers (Q & A)

How to force Windows to use a specific program to open up file types

Question:
"When I double-click on a file, Windows tries to open it with the wrong program. What's wrong? How can I fix this?"

Answer:

You need to tell Windows to use a different program to open that type of file.

When you double-click on a file, Windows looks at the file's "extension" -- the last three letters of the file name -- to figure out what program to use to view or open the file.

If the file name ends with ".doc" Windows will launch Microsoft Word to open it. (If you don't have Word on your system, it will try to open it with the free Windows word processor called WordPad.)

To force Windows to use a specific program, hold down the SHIFT key and RIGHT-click on the file icon with your mouse. (In other words, use the right-hand button on your mouse to click on the picture that represents the file you want to open.)

On the menu that pops up, click on "Open With." This will produce an alphabetical list of programs available on your computer.

Select the correct program from the list. If you want Windows to ALWAYS use this program to open this type of file, check the box marked, "Always Use This Program."

When you're finished, click the OK button, and you're done.

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