Win File Association (redirected from how to associate a file with an application)

Win File association

Windows associates data files with applications so that the appropriate program is launched automatically when you click the icon or name of the file. The file can be on the desktop, in a folder or in an e-mail message. For example, if a GIF image is associated with the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, whenever you select a file on the desktop or in Explorer that has a .GIF extension, the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer will be launched and immediately open that file. All the popular file types are already associated in Windows, but you can change which program opens them. If for any reason a file type (file extension) has not been defined, you can enter it along with the program that opens it.

Changing a File Association
If you are changing a file association to a program that is not already in the file association list, you will have to know the name of the executable file (.EXE file) and its folder location (path) on the hard disk (see Win folder organization).

To associate the same data files all the time to one program, do the following. To open a data file just one time with a different application, see Win Open With.

Windows 7 and Vista
1. Start menu/Control Panel.
2. Select Programs/Default Programs,
or
if in Classic View, Select Default Programs.
3. Select Associate a file type or protocol...
4. Highlight a file type and select Change Program.

Windows XP
1. Launch Explorer.
2. Select Tools/Folder Options/File Types.
3. Scroll down to the file type you want
and click the line.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Under Actions, double click "open."
6. Edit the contents of
"Application used to perform action."
either by typing in a new path or
selecting Browse, locating and double
clicking the .EXE file.

File Associations in Windows 7

Windows 7 and Vista are more helpful than previous versions of Windows because they describe both the file and the program.

File Associations in XP

The XP dialog does not describe the purpose of the file type.

Creating New File Associations
You can add a new file type to the list of file associations by doing the following. You have to know the location (path) of the executable application (.EXE file) you are associating the new file type with (see Win folder organization).

Windows 7 and Vista
1. Launch Explorer.
2. Right click the file you want to associate.
3. Click Open.
4. Click Select a program from a list...
5. Click OK and select the program.
6. Windows will open the file with the selected
application and automatically associate
the file extension with it.

Windows XP
1. Launch Explorer.
2. Select Tools/Folder Options/File Types.
3. Click New.
4. Type the file extension into
"File Extension."
5. Click OK.
6. Click Advanced, then New.
7. Type open into the "Action" field.
8. Type in the path of the .EXE file in
"Application used to perform action."
either by typing in a new path or
selecting Browse, locating and double
clicking the .EXE file.