Windows 10 Automatically Changes File Associations

Question

I have Windows 10 and I'm having this issue where it will randomly just change the file associations I have set from Settings > System > Default apps > Choose default apps by file type back to their original programs. Sometimes it will happen several times a day. Sometimes not for a week. Sometimes one file type will change but another won't. Every time I have to go back open the Choose default apps by file type screen, wait for the list to load and change the types back.

There has got to be some way to fix this. It's driving me insane. At the very least it would be nice to know exactly where in the registry it stores that information so whenever it happens I can just have a *.reg file that has all my associations and I can just import it. At least that way it will be much faster.

Answer 1

Experienced a similar issue long back I eventually solved this mess.

There is a workaround reg fix (developed by Ramesh Srinivasan) that prevents this sudden reset of file associations in Windows 10.

Since the culprits are windows 10 modern apps this fix works to prevent Windows 10 from resetting the file associations by setting NoOpenWith registry value for all the modern apps.

Here is the rest of the .reg file contents:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


;-------------------
;Microsoft.3DBuilder
;-------------------
;File Types: .stl, .3mf, .obj, .wrl, .ply, .fbx, .3ds, .dae, .dxf, .bmp
;... .jpg, .png, .tga

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXvhc4p7vz4b485xfp46hhk3fq3grkdgjg]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;-------------------
;Microsoft Edge
;-------------------
;File Types: .htm, .html
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;File Types: .pdf
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;File Types: .svg
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXde74bfzw9j31bzhcvsrxsyjnhhbq66cs]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;File Types: .xml
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXcc58vyzkbjbs4ky0mxrmxf8278rk9b3t]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;-------------------
;Microsoft Photos
;-------------------
;File Types: .3g2,.3gp, .3gp2, .3gpp, .asf, .avi, .m2t, .m2ts, .m4v, .mkv
;... .mov, .mp4, mp4v, .mts, .tif, .tiff, .wmv
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXk0g4vb8gvt7b93tg50ybcy892pge6jmt]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;File Types: Most Image File Types
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX43hnxtbyyps62jhe9sqpdzxn1790zetc]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;File Types: .raw, .rwl, .rw2 and others
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX9rkaq77s0jzh1tyccadx9ghba15r6t3h]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;-------------------
; Zune Music
;-------------------
;File Types: .aac, .adt, .adts ,.amr, .flac, .m3u, .m4a, .m4r, .mp3, .mpa
;.. .wav, .wma, .wpl, .zpl
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXqj98qxeaynz6dv4459ayz6bnqxbyaqcs]
"NoOpenWith"=""

;-------------------
; Zune Video
;-------------------
;File Types: .3g2,.3gp, .3gpp, .avi, .divx, .m2t, .m2ts, .m4v, .mkv, .mod
;... .mov, .mp4, mp4v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .mts, .tod, .ts
;... .tts, .wm, .wmv, .xvid
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX6eg8h5sxqq90pv53845wmnbewywdqq5h]
"NoOpenWith"=""

After making changes in registry, you can change to your preferred program and select default file-asscoiations. (You may need to reboot)

You can undo this change anytime by replacing the value of NoOpenWith:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


;-------------------
;Microsoft.3DBuilder
;-------------------
;File Types: .stl, .3mf, .obj, .wrl, .ply, .fbx, .3ds, .dae, .dxf, .bmp
;... .jpg, .png, .tga

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXvhc4p7vz4b485xfp46hhk3fq3grkdgjg]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;-------------------
;Microsoft Edge
;-------------------
;File Types: .htm, .html
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;File Types: .pdf
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;File Types: .svg
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXde74bfzw9j31bzhcvsrxsyjnhhbq66cs]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;File Types: .xml
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXcc58vyzkbjbs4ky0mxrmxf8278rk9b3t]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;-------------------
;Microsoft Photos
;-------------------
;File Types: .3g2,.3gp, .3gp2, .3gpp, .asf, .avi, .m2t, .m2ts, .m4v, .mkv
;... .mov, .mp4, mp4v, .mts, .tif, .tiff, .wmv
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXk0g4vb8gvt7b93tg50ybcy892pge6jmt]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;File Types: Most Image File Types
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX43hnxtbyyps62jhe9sqpdzxn1790zetc]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;File Types: .raw, .rwl, .rw2 and others
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX9rkaq77s0jzh1tyccadx9ghba15r6t3h]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;-------------------
; Zune Music
;-------------------
;File Types: .aac, .adt, .adts ,.amr, .flac, .m3u, .m4a, .m4r, .mp3, .mpa
;.. .wav, .wma, .wpl, .zpl
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppXqj98qxeaynz6dv4459ayz6bnqxbyaqcs]
"NoOpenWith"=-

;-------------------
; Zune Video
;-------------------
;File Types: .3g2,.3gp, .3gpp, .avi, .divx, .m2t, .m2ts, .m4v, .mkv, .mod
;... .mov, .mp4, mp4v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .mts, .tod, .ts
;... .tts, .wm, .wmv, .xvid
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppX6eg8h5sxqq90pv53845wmnbewywdqq5h]
"NoOpenWith"=-

The author has kindly made this reg script available online their website: Fix for “An App Default was Reset” Windows 10 Resetting File Associations (Registry Fixes) and all credit goes to them.

Answer 2

Windows 10 allows you to export your current file associations using the built-in DISM tool. It will store them in an XML file, which can be imported later using DISM. You need to do the following.

Export File Associations in Windows 10 - Here I assume that you have all the required apps installed and already set with their file associations.

Open an elevated command prompt. Type or paste the following command and press Enter:

dism /online /Export-DefaultAppAssociations:"%UserProfile%\Desktop\FileAssociations.xml"

This will export your current file associations to the file FileAssociations.xml and put it in your Desktop folder. You can correct the file path if required.

That's it. You just exported your file associations to a file.

Import File Associations in Windows 10 - You can restore your file associations in a new user account that you have just created. Or, if you have re-installed or upgraded Windows 10 to a newer build and your file associations got reset, you can save your time and import the file associations from the earlier saved file. Do it as follows.

Open an elevated command prompt. Type or paste the following command and press Enter:

dism /online /Import-DefaultAppAssociations:"%UserProfile%\Desktop\FileAssociations.xml"

This will restore your current file associations from the file FileAssociations.xml. You need to correct the file path to match the location you store it in.

Tip: if you decide to revert the changes made by the imported file associations file, you can run the following command from the elevated command prompt:

dism.exe /Online /Remove-DefaultAppAssociations

This will remove any custom file associations that you imported and restore the previous configuration set.

Answer 3

What I have discovered is much easier. I save the file, that isn't opening correctly, to the desktop. I then right click on the file and choose ''open with'' it then prompts a menu that you must check the box that says ''always open with this program'' then you scroll down to the bottom of the list and you will see ''find another program on this pc'' choose that. It will then take you to the c drive and into the 64bit program folder. If you need to get to the programs 86x you'll have to back it out to the c drive. Then you just drill down into the folder of the program you need to associate it with.