How to Remove “Always use the selected program” Option from Open With Dialog

The Open With dialog in Windows allows you to open a file using different programs. Also, you can create or change the file type association by selecting the “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” checkbox in the Open With dialog.

Sometimes, users wrongly associate file types and end up having to reset the associations manually. To prevent users from changing file type associations using the Open with dialog, you can remove the “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” checkbox.

1. Launch Regedit.exe and navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Note: If the above branch does not exist, you need to create it manually.

2. Create a new DWORD value named NoFileAssociate

3. Double-click NoFileAssociate and set its data to 1

4. Exit the Registry Editor.

The above registry change affects the current user account only. To implement the change for all users (system-wide), create the NoFileAssociate value in the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

The above edit when used in Windows 2000/XP, results in a grayed out “Always use the selected program…” checkbox. Whereas in Windows Vista and higher, the checkbox is removed completely.

One small request: If you liked this post, please share this?

One "tiny" share from you would seriously help a lot with the growth of this blog. Some great suggestions:
  • Pin it!
  • Share it to your favorite blog + Facebook, Reddit
  • Tweet it!
So thank you so much for your support. It won't take more than 10 seconds of your time. The share buttons are right below. :)

Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

...

5 thoughts on “How to Remove “Always use the selected program” Option from Open With Dialog”

  1. THANKS A BUNCH!

    After a long time of visiting your blog, finally you posted something useful.

    I hope you don’t take it personally, but you more often post tips about restricting or removing features.

    Reply

  3. This is incredibly useful! It’s good to know that there’s a way to remove a ‘feature’ of Windows that has been causing problems for many years (I found a thread from the year 2000 describing exactly the same problem!)

    Thanks 😀

    Reply

  4. Thanks but

    how about if we want just to undo the last association so that the windows would open the same dialog box as before?

    I accidentally associated a file and now I want it to be not associated with any programs. what should i do then in Vista?

    Reply

  5. This comes close to what I’m looking for, but not quite.
    I don’t want to remove the “Always use the selected program” option.
    What I want is to change it from being selected by default.

    That way I can select it when I want, but don’t end up accidentally creating a default association by forgetting to deselect the option.

    Is there a registry option for this?

    Reply

Leave a Comment