Edit Context Menu - Change Default Program in Windows

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

information   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   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
Edit_Context_Menu.jpg



Here's How:

1. If you have not already, download the free program Default Programs Editor.
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)
DefaultProgramsEditor-1.jpg

4. Click/tap on Context Menu. (see screenshot below)
DefaultProgramsEditor-2.jpg

5. Double click/tap on the file extension (ex: .jpg) that you want to change it's Edit context menu of. (see screenshot below)
DefaultProgramsEditor-3.jpg

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.
DefaultProgramsEditor-4.jpg

7. Click/tap on the Browse button. (see screenshot below)
DefaultProgramsEditor-5.jpg

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.
DefaultProgramsEditor-6.jpg

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.
DefaultProgramsEditor-7.jpg
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)​
Icon.jpg

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)
DefaultProgramsEditor-8.jpg

12. To Apply Changes Made to your Edit Context Menu Now
NOTE: This option will change your Edit context menu immediately.
A) Click/tap on the Save Context Menu button, and go to step 14 below. (see screenshots below step 11)​
OR
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.
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)​
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)​
Save_As.jpg

14. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
DefaultProgramsEditor-9.jpg

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



That's it,
Shawn


 

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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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    i7 3770k
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte UD5h
    Memory
    16 GB G.Skill
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 670FTW
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks for the reply.
Edit: Oh you replied back before I finished editing this post. Sorry
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    i7 3770k
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte UD5h
    Memory
    16 GB G.Skill
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 670FTW
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Perfect. Thank you!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    i7 3770k
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte UD5h
    Memory
    16 GB G.Skill
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 670FTW
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
You're most welcome Ray. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
This is really cool, but it doesn't allow for changing the autostart options for devices, like a camera. Got anything that does?

Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    hp

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    hp
I'm not sure how unless the camera's software/settings has an option to load a program when connected. :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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