How do I change the default programme that opens a file on a Windows computer?

Change if your file or email attachment isn't opening or opening in the wrong application.

1. Right click the file
2. Open with
3. Select app or Choose another app to see more options
4. Select the app you want to use and select to open it once or always with this app
5. Applications like Outlook may need restarting to use the new default app

Windows 11 - Default Apps

1. Select Start > Settings > Apps > Default apps.

2. To change the default app, you can do either of the following:

   1. Set a default for a file type or link type
      In the search bar, enter the file type or link type you want, then select it from the list of results. You can choose which app can open that file or link type.

   2. Set defaults for applications 
      Select an app to see what file types or link types it can open. If you want to change something, select the file or link type, then choose your preferred app.

Setting Acrobat Reader as the default PDF app

1. Open Acrobat Reader

   1. Windows Start button  > type acrobat
      

2. Look for the message Always open PDFs in Acrobat Reader on the right side

   1. Select Set as default

      
   2. If you see a popup to Always open PDFs in Acrobat Reader select Yes
      
3. Select Adobe Acrobat and Set default
4. PDFs should now open in Adobe Acrobat
5. For Outlook Desktop, close and re-open Outlook to get the new default.
6. Alternatively, you can also change the default from a single PDF file in a Windows folder:

Related article

• Opening PDFs in Microsoft Edge >