Edit Context Menu - Change Default Program in Windows

[Brink]

ByLine

How to Change the Default Program of the 'Edit' Context Menu in Windows

Synopsis

This tutorial will show you how to change the default program that the "Edit" context menu item opens a file with to edit it in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

How to Change the Default Program of the "Edit" Context Menu in Windows ​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to change the default program that the "Edit" context menu item opens a file with to edit it in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

This is only applied to the user account that uses this, and not all user accounts.

   Note

For example:

Editing image files (.png, .jpg, .bmp, etc...) will open the file in Paint (mspaint.exe) by default.

Editing text files (.reg, .bat, .txt, .vbs, etc...) will open the file in Notepad (notepad.exe) by default.

EXAMPLE: "Edit" Context Menu Item

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Here's How:

1. If you have not already, download the free program Default Programs Editor.

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A) Save the DefaultProgramsEditor.zip file to your desktop, and open it.​

B) Extract (drag and drop) the Default Programs Editor.exe file from within the .zip file to your desktop.​

C) Unblock the Default Programs Editor.exe file.​

2. Run the Default Programs Editor.exe file.
NOTE: This is a standalone .exe file, and does not install to your computer.

3. Click/tap on File Type Settings. (see screenshot below)

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4. Click/tap on Context Menu. (see screenshot below)

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5. Double click/tap on the file extension (ex: .jpg) that you want to change it's Edit context menu of. (see screenshot below)

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6. If available, double click/tap on the Edit command. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If the file extension you selected from step 5 is not an editable file, then you will not have an Edit command available.

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7. Click/tap on the Browse button. (see screenshot below)

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8. Navigate to, and select the .exe file (ex: gimp-2.8.exe) of the program (ex: Gimp) that you want to use to edit files with the file extension you selected in step 5 above, and click/tap on Open. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: The program you select must support opening the file extension you selected in step 5 above.

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9. If you would like to add an icon to the Edit context menu, then click/tap on Browse to the right of Item icon. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you do not want an icon, then skip this step and go to step 10 below instead. To remove an already added icon, you could select a blank icon in the C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll file.

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A) You can select an icon from the program (step 8), or browse to and select any icon you like, then click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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10. Click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below step 9)

11. Do step 12 or 13 below for what you would like to do. (see screenshots below)

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12. To Apply Changes Made to your Edit Context Menu Now
NOTE: This option will change your Edit context menu immediately.

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A) Click/tap on the Save Context Menu button, and go to step 14 below. (see screenshots below step 11)​

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OR​

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B) Click/tap on the Save Context Menu button's drop down menu, click/tap on Save to Registry, and go to step 14 below. (see screenshots below step 11)​

13. To Save Edit Context Menu Changes to a .reg File
NOTE: This option will only save the changes you made to a .reg file that you can double click on to merge in any user account whenever you wanted to apply these changes to that user's Edit context menu.

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A) Click/tap on the Save Context Menu button's drop down menu, and click/tap on Save to .reg file, and go to step 14 below. (see screenshots below step 11)​

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B) Navigate to where (ex: desktop) you want to save the .reg file to, type in a name, click/tap on Save, and go to step 14 below. (see screenshot below)​

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14. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

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15. When finished, click/tap on Close. (see screenshot below step 3)



That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Restore Default File Extension Type Associations in Windows 8
• How to Set Your Default Programs in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Default Program of a File using "Open with" in Windows 8
• How to Associate a File Type or Protocol with a Program in Windows 8 and 8.1
• Restore Missing "Open", "Print", and "Edit" Context Menu Items when more than 15 Files are Selected

 

[Photoray]

This worked great for changing the Edit option for file types. Thanks Brink. :thumb:

I see the Default Programs editor will create a backup of registry settings. That was easy enough also. My question is where are the backup files stored when created? I would like to save them in a secondary drive and there's no option to choose where to save at.

 

[Brink]

Hello Ray, and welcome to Eight Forums.

No worries. You can restore the default "Edit" of a file type anytime by using the tutorial below to restore the default associations of that file type.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/8486-default-file-associations-restore-windows-8-a.html
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Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Photoray]

Thanks for the reply.
Edit: Oh you replied back before I finished editing this post. Sorry

 

[Brink]

Took a bit of digging, but found that "Default Programs Editor" keeps the backups in the hidden "backups" folder location below. Each subfolder in backups is a separate time stamped backup.

C:\Users\(user-name)\AppData\Local\factormystic.net\Default Programs Editor\2.7.2675.2253\backups


I would recommend to just back up the factormystic.net folder to be safe. You'll also have to restore it in the exact same location.

 

[Photoray]

Perfect. Thank you!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Ray.

 

[dbltapp]

This is really cool, but it doesn't allow for changing the autostart options for devices, like a camera. Got anything that does?

Thanks

 

[Brink]

Hello dbltapp,

You could use AutoPlay for devices instead.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/30511-autoplay-turn-off-windows-8-a.html

 

[dbltapp]

I'll explain better. Win 8.1 sees and identifies my camera in autoplay devices, but none of the optiions are useful. I want it to start up Adobe Lightroom when the camera connects. The defaultprogramseditor doesn't list devices as something it can edit.

 

[Brink]

I'm not sure how unless the camera's software/settings has an option to load a program when connected.