Setting a Default Application

Owned by Roger Eineichner (Unlicensed)
02 13, 2023
2 min read

  1. Open Control Panel from the Start Menu.

  2. In the top-right of Control Panel, click into the Search Box and search Default Programs.

    1. NOTE: If you don’t have a Start Menu search bar and the Start Menu just opens to a tiled program list, you can just start typing Default Programs to search.

  3. Choose the Set your default programs link.

  4. Server 2012 R2:

    1. On Server 2012 R2, you’ll see a list of your programs. Click the program you want to set as default and choose Set this program as default to automatically set all defaults for that program.

  5. Server 2016+:

    1. This is the same as above but if your window looks different (new settings app), you need to choose Set defaults by app at the bottom of the page.

       

    2. Please note, on newer versions of Windows Server, you may see a window like this and will need to choose the app and then click Manage. From there you will be able to set the file extensions to use that app.