{"id":2186,"date":"2016-03-18T20:37:48","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T15:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=2186"},"modified":"2020-11-10T07:07:41","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T07:07:41","slug":"default-apps-not-working-windows-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/default-apps-not-working-windows-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Cannot Change Default Apps or Programs in Windows 10 [Fix]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you open Default apps and select a default program for Web browser, Email or any other item, the Choose an app dialog pops up but nothing happens when you select an item from the list. Here is a small video clip that explains the problem.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4TBx0RoIvkQ\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><i>I&#8217;ve been working on this issue for the past few days, collecting logs from users who faced this problem. Based on my observation the problem happens if Windows is unable to generate the hash when the user tries to set file associations. This is a user profile specific issue, seen mainly for Local user accounts (if the user had switched from a <a href=\"http:\/\/windows.microsoft.com\/en-in\/windows-10\/getstarted-microsoft-account\">Microsoft account<\/a> earlier).<\/i><\/p>\n<h2>Fix: Cannot Save Default Apps Settings in Windows 10<\/h2>\n<div class=\"qt\">\n<p><strong>October 2018 Update:<\/strong> If this file association problems have surfaced especially after installing Windows 10 v1809, read below:<\/p>\n<p>When you right-click on a file, choose Open with&#8230;, click Choose another app, select a program from the list and tick the option &#8220;Always use this app to open .xyz files&#8221;, the preference may not be saved.<\/p>\n<p>To resolve the problem, repeat the process one more time (if you&#8217;ve upgraded to v1809) and the preference will get saved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alternately<\/strong>, right-click on the file type \u2192 click <strong>Properties<\/strong> \u2192 click <strong>Change<\/strong> \u2192 choose the desired program from the list.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9278 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/w1-10-change-file-asso-properties.png\" alt=\"Cannot Change Default Apps in windows 10\" width=\"541\" height=\"304\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You may have to do this twice if you&#8217;ve installed v1809 due to a minor bug in this build.<\/p>\n<p>Although v1809 is mentioned above, the procedure works in any Windows 10 build for that matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For all other builds of Windows 10, follow one of these methods:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#sol1\">Solution 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#sol2\">Solution 2<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#wor1\">Workaround 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#wor2\">Workaround 2<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><a name=\"sol1\"><\/a>Solution 1: Switch to a Microsoft Account<\/h3>\n<p>The easiest way to fix the problem is to switch to a Microsoft account.<\/p>\n<p>Click Start \u2192 Settings \u2192 click Accounts \u2192 Your email and accounts \u2192 click <b>Sign in with a Microsoft account instead<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/default-apps-fix-3.png\" alt=\"cannot change default apps\" width=\"600\" height=\"280\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Follow the prompts to switch your local account to a Microsoft account. The next time you sign in to Windows, use your Microsoft account name and password. Your apps and files will not be affected.<\/p>\n<h3><a name=\"sol2\"><\/a>Solution 2: Remove your Microsoft Account information from Account Settings<\/h3>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t want to switch to a Microsoft Account, but wish to continue using the <u>Local Account<\/u>, then use these steps:<\/p>\n<p>Open Settings, and click Accounts. Under &#8220;Accounts used by other apps&#8221;, select the Microsoft account that was previously associated with the user account<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/default-apps-fix-1.png\" alt=\"cannot change default apps\" width=\"600\" height=\"445\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/default-apps-fix-2.png\" alt=\"cannot change default apps\" width=\"383\" height=\"233\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Click <strong>Remove<\/strong>. Default Apps should now work correctly.<\/p>\n<h2>Workarounds<\/h2>\n<h3><a name=\"wor1\"><\/a>Option 1: Use the Open with dialog<\/h3>\n<p>To set the defaults on a per-file type basis, right-click the file for which you want to assign the default program, click <strong>Open with<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Choose another app<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/default-app-2.png\" alt=\"cannot change default apps\" width=\"393\" height=\"523\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Select the program from the list, and make sure you enable the checkbox for Always use this app to open&#8230;<\/p>\n<h3><a name=\"wor2\"><\/a>Option 2: Set default apps using SetUserFTA<\/h3>\n<p>Generally, you can&#8217;t use scripts or registry editing to change the user defaults in Windows 10 due to hash validation mechanism is in place. Any attempts to do so will result in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-10-resetting-file-associations\/\">An app default was reset<\/a>&#8221; notification. However, there is one excellent 3rd party tool that can overcome the restrictions imposed by Windows 10. It&#8217;s the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/set-default-browser-file-associations-command-line-windows-10\/\">SetUserFTA<\/a> utility written by Christoph Kolbicz. Kolbicz has reverse-engineered the Windows file association hashing algorithm effectively.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9255\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/setuserfta.png\" alt=\"cannot change default apps\" width=\"700\" height=\"205\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This utility generates the hash automatically and sets the defaults for you using the command-line. For more information, see the article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/set-default-browser-file-associations-command-line-windows-10\/\">Set Default Browser and File Associations via Command-line in Windows 10<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you open Default apps and select a default program for Web browser, Email or any other item, the Choose an app dialog pops up but nothing happens when you select an item from the list. Here is a small video clip that explains the problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-utilities","category-windows-10"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25987,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/cant-associate-jpg-png-files-default-apps\/","url_meta":{"origin":2186,"position":0},"title":"[Fix] Can&#8217;t Change File Association via Default Apps in Windows 11","author":"Ramesh","date":"January 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After installing third-party software on your Windows 11 computer, the ability to associate file types such as JPG, JPE, JPEG, PNG, MPG, MPEG, and other file types may be hampered. Here are the issues you may encounter when attempting to change the file association for the said file types. When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 11&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 11","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-11\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"windows 11 default apps can't associate file","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/w11-default-apps-asso-fix-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/w11-default-apps-asso-fix-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/w11-default-apps-asso-fix-3.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/application-not-found-error-mail-http-url\/","url_meta":{"origin":2186,"position":1},"title":"&#8220;Application not found&#8221; Hyperlink Error in Mail","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"When you click on a hyperlink in your mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook, Windows Mail, or Windows Live Mail, you may see the Application not found or General failure errors. General Failure. The application cannot be found. This error occurs if the default browser is not correctly set, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"outlook hyperlink error - reset default browser","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/default-browser-default-apps-windows-10.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/default-browser-default-apps-windows-10.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/default-browser-default-apps-windows-10.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/default-browser-default-apps-windows-10.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1115,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/outlook-office-hyperlink-restrictions-error\/","url_meta":{"origin":2186,"position":2},"title":"How to Fix Outlook Hyperlink Restrictions Error","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"When you click a hyperlink in Microsoft Outlook or other Office applications, you may receive one of the following errors, depending upon the version of Office installed. Your organization's policies are preventing us from completing this action for you. For more info, please contact your help desk. This operation has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Office&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Office","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/office\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"outlook hyperlink error - notepad++ association settings","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/notepad-plus-settings.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/notepad-plus-settings.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/notepad-plus-settings.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/notepad-plus-settings.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62063,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/html-association-default-apps-fix\/","url_meta":{"origin":2186,"position":3},"title":"Can&#8217;t Change HTML Association when MS Edge is the Default App","author":"Ramesh","date":"September 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"You may be unable to change the default app for HTML file type in Windows 11. The file type may be associated with Microsoft Edge, and you cannot change the default app to Code Editor, Visual Studio Code, or any other app. When you try to change it via Default\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Microsoft Edge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft Edge","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/edge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"html files cannot associate in windows 11","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/edge-html-asso-4.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/edge-html-asso-4.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/edge-html-asso-4.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":430,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-mp3-saved-with-incorrect-extension-when-downloaded\/","url_meta":{"origin":2186,"position":4},"title":"Fix: MP3 files are saved with incorrect file extension when downloaded","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"When downloading .mp3 files using Internet Explorer or any other browser, the Save As dialog may add an incorrect file extension (.mp2 or .mpeg, instead of .mp3). Whenever this happens, you need to change the file extension to .mp3 manually. If this problem happens when downloading .mp3 files from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1442,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-photo-viewer-instances-multiple-files-previewed-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":2186,"position":5},"title":"Windows Photo Viewer Opens Multiple Windows When Multiple Files are Selected","author":"Ramesh","date":"January 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"You may be wondering why Windows Photo Viewer, which previously opened images in a single window instance when multiple files were selected and previewed, is now opening up separate windows or instances--one for each image file selected. The Windows Photo Viewer multiple instances problem usually seen in Windows 10 or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"windows photo viewer multiple windows","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/wpv-multiple-0.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186","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=2186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}