Change the program that starts when you open a file

Many file types in Microsoft Windows are registered to be opened by a particular program. For example, Notepad starts when you want to open a text (.txt) file. You can change the program that starts when you open a file of a certain type.

Do one of the following:

For Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium Edition:

  1. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the File Types tab.
  2. In the Registered file types list, click the file type you want to open with a different program, and then click Change.
  3. In the Open With dialog box, select the program you want to use, and then click OK.
  4. Click OK in the Folder Options dialog box.

For Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0:

  1. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, click the View menu, click Folder Options (Options in Windows NT 4.0), and then click the File Types tab.
  2. In the list of file types, click the file type, and then click Edit.
  3. In Actions, click Open, and then click Edit.
  4. Click in Application used to perform action box, and then click Browse.
  5. In the Open With dialog box, locate the program you want to use to open files that have this extension, and then click OK.
  6. Click OK in the Folder Options dialog box.