An always thorny issue for less experienced computer users is that related to file formats and the corresponding associated program to open them .
It may happen, in fact, in a Windows PC, that a link on the desktop or in another folder refers to a file that no longer exists or that a file has a white icon and is seen as an unknown file.
In Windows, in fact, each file must be associated with a program in order to be viewed and modified.
When you install new software on your computer, a new association is created between that program and the type of file for which it is designed.
Hence the mp3 files are opened by a music player while the Doc files are opened by Word which in turn will never be able to recognize an mp3.
It therefore becomes essential, in the basic use of a Windows 10 or Windows 7 PC, to know how to set the association or change the default program to open a certain type of file .
First of all, one of the things to always do on every computer (except in the case of denied people), is to enable the display of the file extension to recognize what type it is.
The so-called extension is formed by the three letters after the dot (for example .doc, .mp3, .avi, .txt, .jpg) in the name of the file itself.
On computers, by default, you don't see if a file is an mp3 file, a doc or other mouse, therefore, when a file is unknown, it becomes difficult to understand which program to open it with.
Also, when installing a new program better than the previous one, for example another Media Player to watch videos, you may want to make sure that every time you click on a video file it is always opened by the new program.
To see the type of file in Windows 10 just open any folder and go to the top of the View menu and then pressing the Show and Hide button, putting the flash on the File name extensions option.
After applying this setting you will notice that the name of each file will be changed by adding a dot plus three letters.
For example you will have foo.txt, navigaweb.html, Song_of_the_sole.mp3 etc.
To see the file extension in Windows 7 you have to go to the folder options from the Control Panel and, from the display tab, you have to remove the selection under " Hide extensions for known file types ".
Because Windows, by default, hides these extensions "> Always use the selected program to open this type of file".
The change now becomes permanent therefore, every time you click on a pdf file, it will open in the chosen program.
In Windows 10 you can see all the associations of programs and files from the Settings .
From Settings, go to Apps and then to Default apps in the left sidebar.
You will then see programs and apps chosen as default for more common activities such as email, listening to music and more.
Any association here can be easily changed.
To see the complete list of file associations, scroll down a bit and click Choose default apps by file type .
Here you can select any item to edit its associated program.
The Choose Default Apps by Protocol menu allows you to select apps to manage certain URL protocols, such as Mailto and FTP.
The Configure default settings based on the app menu shows all types of files that a certain app can open.
From here you can easily change the default values when a program opens when it shouldn't, or vice versa.
In case the associations of files and programs are completely unpacked, you can press the Reset button to reset the programs to open files on Windows 10 .
In Windows 7, to see an overview of all the file associations on your computer and to make changes centrally, you can go to the Control Panel -> Default Programs -> Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program .
From here you can browse in alphabetical order all the extensions that correspond to the types of files recognized by the computer.
Using the Change program button you can choose a different application to open the selected file.
The .lnk file type is not associated with any specific program (unknown application) because it is a link to something else.
To reset file assictions in Windows 7, you can use an automatic tool that resets and removes file associations .
The tool is called Unassociate File Types and works on Windows 7 and Vista.
After deleting the specific association between a file type and a program, it will return to the default setting.
In another article we have seen the procedure for changing the default program to open a file .
If you were dealing with a file without an extension or of an unknown type, refer to the guide on how to find the program to open an unknown file .
It may happen, in fact, in a Windows PC, that a link on the desktop or in another folder refers to a file that no longer exists or that a file has a white icon and is seen as an unknown file.
In Windows, in fact, each file must be associated with a program in order to be viewed and modified.
When you install new software on your computer, a new association is created between that program and the type of file for which it is designed.
Hence the mp3 files are opened by a music player while the Doc files are opened by Word which in turn will never be able to recognize an mp3.
It therefore becomes essential, in the basic use of a Windows 10 or Windows 7 PC, to know how to set the association or change the default program to open a certain type of file .
First of all, one of the things to always do on every computer (except in the case of denied people), is to enable the display of the file extension to recognize what type it is.
The so-called extension is formed by the three letters after the dot (for example .doc, .mp3, .avi, .txt, .jpg) in the name of the file itself.
On computers, by default, you don't see if a file is an mp3 file, a doc or other mouse, therefore, when a file is unknown, it becomes difficult to understand which program to open it with.
Also, when installing a new program better than the previous one, for example another Media Player to watch videos, you may want to make sure that every time you click on a video file it is always opened by the new program.
To see the type of file in Windows 10 just open any folder and go to the top of the View menu and then pressing the Show and Hide button, putting the flash on the File name extensions option.
After applying this setting you will notice that the name of each file will be changed by adding a dot plus three letters.
For example you will have foo.txt, navigaweb.html, Song_of_the_sole.mp3 etc.
To see the file extension in Windows 7 you have to go to the folder options from the Control Panel and, from the display tab, you have to remove the selection under " Hide extensions for known file types ".
Because Windows, by default, hides these extensions "> Always use the selected program to open this type of file".
The change now becomes permanent therefore, every time you click on a pdf file, it will open in the chosen program.
In Windows 10 you can see all the associations of programs and files from the Settings .
From Settings, go to Apps and then to Default apps in the left sidebar.
You will then see programs and apps chosen as default for more common activities such as email, listening to music and more.
Any association here can be easily changed.
To see the complete list of file associations, scroll down a bit and click Choose default apps by file type .
Here you can select any item to edit its associated program.
The Choose Default Apps by Protocol menu allows you to select apps to manage certain URL protocols, such as Mailto and FTP.
The Configure default settings based on the app menu shows all types of files that a certain app can open.
From here you can easily change the default values when a program opens when it shouldn't, or vice versa.
In case the associations of files and programs are completely unpacked, you can press the Reset button to reset the programs to open files on Windows 10 .
In Windows 7, to see an overview of all the file associations on your computer and to make changes centrally, you can go to the Control Panel -> Default Programs -> Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program .
From here you can browse in alphabetical order all the extensions that correspond to the types of files recognized by the computer.
Using the Change program button you can choose a different application to open the selected file.
The .lnk file type is not associated with any specific program (unknown application) because it is a link to something else.
To reset file assictions in Windows 7, you can use an automatic tool that resets and removes file associations .
The tool is called Unassociate File Types and works on Windows 7 and Vista.
After deleting the specific association between a file type and a program, it will return to the default setting.
In another article we have seen the procedure for changing the default program to open a file .
If you were dealing with a file without an extension or of an unknown type, refer to the guide on how to find the program to open an unknown file .
