{"id":10171,"date":"2019-07-04T14:27:32","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T08:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=10171"},"modified":"2023-08-02T20:34:55","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:04:55","slug":"word-not-your-default-program-for-viewing-editing-documents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/word-not-your-default-program-for-viewing-editing-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"[Fix] Word isn&#8217;t your default program for viewing and editing documents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whenever you start Microsoft Office Word, you may see the message asking <strong>Microsoft Word isn&#8217;t your default program for viewing and editing documents. Do you want to select the file types that Word should open?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10174\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-word-not-default-1.png\" alt=\"word not the default editor message startup\" width=\"487\" height=\"141\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This message may appear even if Word is currently the default program for viewing and editing <code>.doc<\/code>, <code>.docm<\/code>,<code>.docx<\/code>, <code>.dot<\/code>, <code>.dotm<\/code>,<code>.dotx<\/code>, <code>.odt<\/code>, <code>.wbk<\/code>, <code>.wiz<\/code> file types and the <code>ms-word:<\/code> URL protocol.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a simple issue, and repairing Office Word installation is not necessary to fix the problem.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Cause<\/h2>\n<p>Even though Word sets itself as the default for most types during installation, the <code>.rtf<\/code> (Rich Text Document) files remain associated with WordPad (instead of Microsoft Word).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10172\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-word-not-default-3.png\" alt=\"word not the default editor message startup\" width=\"692\" height=\"264\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On some systems, some file types may have been associated with Open Office or WPS Office by the user. Even if 1 out of 11 file types is not registered with Microsoft Word, Word considers it&#8217;s not the default editor.<\/p>\n<h2>[Fix] &#8220;Word isn&#8217;t your default program for viewing&#8230;&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>To prevent the &#8220;Microsoft Word isn&#8217;t your default program&#8230;&#8221; dialog from appearing, all you need to do is dismiss the dialog by enabling <strong>Don&#8217;t show this message again<\/strong>\u00a0and then clicking <strong>No<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10174\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-word-not-default-1.png\" alt=\"word not the default editor message startup\" width=\"487\" height=\"141\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you had dismissed the dialog already, you could configure it by opening the Microsoft Word Options dialog.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10173\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-word-not-default-2.png\" alt=\"word not the default editor message startup\" width=\"699\" height=\"289\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Uncheck <strong>Tell me if Microsoft Word isn&#8217;t the default program for viewing and editing documents<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You can check your Word file associations by opening Windows 10 <strong>Settings<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Default Apps<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Set defaults by app<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Word \u2192 Manage<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>In earlier versions of Windows, use the classic Default Programs applet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Alternately<\/strong>, associating <code>.rtf<\/code> files with Microsoft Word will eliminate the above message box when starting Word.<\/p>\n<p>If none of the above steps help, repair your Office installation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whenever you start Microsoft Office Word, you may see the message asking Microsoft Word isn&#8217;t your default program for viewing and editing documents. Do you want to select the file types that Word should open? This message may appear even if Word is currently the default program for viewing and editing .doc, .docm,.docx, .dot, .dotm,.dotx, &#8230; <a title=\"[Fix] Word isn&#8217;t your default program for viewing and editing documents\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/word-not-your-default-program-for-viewing-editing-documents\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about [Fix] Word isn&#8217;t your default program for viewing and editing documents\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[191],"class_list":["post-10171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-office","tag-error-messages"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9810,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/word-docx-doc-files-show-generic-white-icon\/","url_meta":{"origin":10171,"position":0},"title":".Docx\/Doc Files Not Showing Word Icon but Only White Plain Icon","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many users have reported that the Word icons are not showing up for .docx and .doc files on their systems. Instead, they show up with a generic (unknown) or plain white icon even though the files open in Word when double-clicked (i.e., the file association settings are intact.) Cause Blank\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Office&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Office","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/office\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"word .docx and .doc files show generic white icon - repair office","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/office-repair.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10496,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/how-to-change-the-office-365-2016-default-save-folder\/","url_meta":{"origin":10171,"position":1},"title":"How to Change the Office 365\/2016 Default Save Folder","author":"Ramesh","date":"July 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Office programs save your files to OneDrive by default since the February 2019 Office 365 update. Microsoft suggests that the users store files in OneDrive to protect against device loss or damage and to provide anywhere access to files. Quoting Microsoft: Today we are announcing a new capability that makes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Office&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Office","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/office\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"office documents default save location","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-default-save-folder-4.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-default-save-folder-4.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-default-save-folder-4.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/office-default-save-folder-4.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10006,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/word-excel-missing-desktop-new-menu-office\/","url_meta":{"origin":10171,"position":2},"title":"Desktop New Menu Missing Word Document or Excel Worksheet","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The New menu that appears when you right-click on your Desktop has options or templates to create documents of a particular type quickly. For example, after you install Microsoft Office, the New menu shows Microsoft Word Document, Microsoft Excel Worksheet, Microsoft Access Database, and entries for other Office products installed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Office&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Office","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/office\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Microsoft Office featured image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ms-office-featured.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ms-office-featured.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ms-office-featured.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ms-office-featured.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9771,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/word-could-not-create-the-work-file-temp-folder-outlook\/","url_meta":{"origin":10171,"position":3},"title":"Fix: Word could not create the work file when Opening Word Documents","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When you try to open or save a document in Microsoft Word, you receive the following error message: Word could not create the work file. Check the Temp environment variable. The error message can also appear when you preview a .docx or .xlsx file using the File Explorer preview pane.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"office 365 check bitness and version","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/office-365-bitness-check.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/office-365-bitness-check.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/office-365-bitness-check.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24403,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/disable-preview-pane-file-types-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":10171,"position":4},"title":"How to Disable Preview for Certain File Types in Explorer Preview Pane","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The preview pane in File Explorer shows you the preview for various file types in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows comes with a built-in set of preview handlers. In addition, third-party applications add their own handlers that can generate previews for their proprietary file types. Windows allows you to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Utilities&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Utilities","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/utilities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"disable preview for selected file type","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/disable-preview-pane-file-type-0.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/disable-preview-pane-file-type-0.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/disable-preview-pane-file-type-0.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5845,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-0xc000012f-bad-image-fix-corrupt-files\/","url_meta":{"origin":10171,"position":5},"title":"Error 0xc000012f &#8220;Bad Image&#8221; When Running a Program","author":"Ramesh","date":"November 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When you run a program in Windows, error 0xc000012f may pop up, mentioning that the binary you're trying to run is corrupted. Here are some examples, with the full error message verbatim: <filename> is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"winword.exe bad image error gfx.dll","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/winword-bad-image-error.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}