W10's brain damaged way to assign apps <-> file types

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  1. mmo
    Posts : 140
    Windows 10
       #1

    W10's brain damaged way to assign apps <-> file types


    One of the biggest annoyances of Windows 10 is the absolutely brain damaged way to assign file types to applications. For most file types if one right clicks the right hand side the only option is the already assigned application or "Look for an app in the store".

    On my wife's computer I just wanted to assign epub's (an e-book format) to Edge (since Edge can handle that format). But there is no way to assign Edge to handle epubs! The currently assigned application is "Internet Explorer" (which had no clue how to handle epubs) and one can not download Edge from the store for obvious reasons (since it comes preinstalled with the system and is not available in the store).

    Result: it is impossible to read an epub file on my wife's MS Surface tablet just and only due to this braindamaged file type assignment handling in Windows 10! What did these guys smoke when designing this dialogue?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,668
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #2

    Hello mmo, :)

    You should be able to use an option in the tutorial below to either set Microsoft Edge as the default app for all of it's associations OR set Microsoft Edge as the default app for the .epub file type.

    Choose Default Apps in Windows 10 Windows 10 Apps Features Tutorials
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  3. mmo
    Posts : 140
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Unfortunately, none of the methods described in the tutorial worked:

    Method 1 & 7: I don't want to reset all file types! It took me already long enough to assign a couple of types that had no defaults. Furthermore, my wife hates Edge as browser, so assigning it to handle all its possible file types is no option here.

    Method 2. The "Open with..."-approach does not work either. Edge is not listed here.

    Method 3 & 4: There is only that dreaded "Look for an app in the store" and no "Look for another app on this PC" option in the file type dialog (although for Edge that probably wouldn't work anyway, since there is no "edge.exe" to assign here as it is a "modern app". ||-(

    Method 5: There is no protocol involved here. We are dealing with local files here.

    Method 6: The set defaults by app method does not work either. For some strange reason on my Surface, "epub" is one of the listed file types for Edge, but on my wife's computer "epub" is missing from fhat list. And there seems no way to edit this list of file types. :-(

    Method 8: Edge is not listed as possible application. And one can not assign it using "Other app"...

    I guess the root of the problem is, that Edge - at least on this system - is not listed as possible handler for epub files. Guess my next action will be to dive into the registry...
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5,442
    Windows 11 Home
       #4

    mmo said:
    There is only that dreaded "Look for an app in the store" and no "Look for another app on this PC"
    Try this, it should disable store option and reveal the PC one.

    Remove 'Look for an app in the Store' from Open with in Windows 10 Windows 10 Apps Features Tutorials

    Code:
    reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v "NoUseStoreOpenWith" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
    Last edited by Brink; 15 Aug 2017 at 15:06. Reason: added tutorial link for more info
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  5. mmo
    Posts : 140
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Thanks - that might help. But - as I had to learn - there is no executable (.exe) for Edge. How can I assign it as the app to be called?
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 68,668
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #6

    Do you see Microsoft Edge listed in the Start Menu -> All Apps list?

    If so, will is successfully open?

    Running the command below should open Microsoft Edge if there's no issue with it.

    %windir%\explorer.exe shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 13,896
    Win10 Version 22H2 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home
       #7

    That command works fine when pasted into Command Prompt [Administrator] but not in PowerShell, basically says it can't find things with this message:
    Windows PowerShell
    Copyright (C) 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> %windir%\explorer.exe shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge
    %windir%\explorer.exe : The module '%windir%' could not be loaded. For more information, run 'Import-Module %windir%'.
    At line:1 char:1
    + %windir%\explorer.exe shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb ...
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (%windir%\explorer.exe:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CouldNotAutoLoadModule

    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>
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  8. Posts : 68,668
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #8

    Yeah, the %windir% variable doesn't work in PowerShell, but you can use this below instead. :)

    explorer shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge
      My Computers


  9. mmo
    Posts : 140
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Brink said:
    Do you see Microsoft Edge listed in the Start Menu -> All Apps list?
    If so, will is successfully open?

    Running the command below should open Microsoft Edge if there's no issue with it.

    %windir%\explorer.exe shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge
    Yes - Edge opens fine from the start menu.
    Unfortunately it is not possible to assign the above line into the "Search an app on this PC" dialog. This yields an error message
    "can't find explorer.exe shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge"
    Obviously the dialog check for the existence of that file and can't handle that name (or rather: name plus argument), even if I replace %windir% with its value.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 68,668
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #10

    @mmo,

    The command was just to see if you would be able to open Microsoft Edge if it wasn't listed in All Apps.

    Since Microsoft Edge is working for you, I have added an epub download to the table in Option 2 of the tutorial below to see if it may help. It will restore the default association of .epub files to Microsoft Edge.

    Restore Default File Type Associations in Windows 10 Windows 10 Customization Tutorials
    Last edited by Brink; 15 Aug 2017 at 14:33.
      My Computers


 

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