Modify Your Default Applications in Windows 10

This KB Article describes how to choose which applications Windows 10 uses for certain tasks.
Microsoft has built-in applications in Windows 10 to handle just about every file you want to open, however you may want to modify which applications are used by default for certain tasks.

For example, you may want to use Outlook as your default email application rather than Windows Mail. Or you may prefer to use Google Chrome as your default web browser rather than Microsoft Edge. Also, you may wish to modify which application is used when you double-click to open certain file types, such as PDFs.

To begin, in the Windows start menu, search for 'default' and launch the Default app settings option.

Click the Windows start menu, search for 'default', and launch Default app settings.


For example, here you can change your default Email application from Windows Mail to Outlook.

Click the current Email default application. Select your new preferred default Email application.


For example, here you can change your default web browser from Microsoft Edge to Google Chrome.

Click the current default Web browser application. Select your new preferred default Web browser.


If you scroll down and select Choose default apps by file type, you can select which application you prefer is used to open specific file extensions.

Scroll down and click Choose default apps by file type.


For example, here you can modify which application is used when you double-click to open PDFs.

Click the current application for your desired file extension. Choose your new preferred default application.


Finally, if you wish to open a file using an application other than the current Windows 10 default, you can right-click the file in File Explorer, hover over Open with >, and choose an alternate application.

Right-click the file in File Explorer, hover over Open with, and select an alternate application.


Keywordsdefault,pdf,browser,mail,email,extension defaultapps   Doc ID88200
OwnerThom W.GroupFVTC
Created2018-12-04 16:42:01Updated2022-05-23 07:39:36
SitesFox Valley Technical College
CleanURLhttps://kb.fvtc.edu/defaultapps
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