Remove Programs from Open with Context Menu in Windows  

ddelo said:

And a request:
All tutorials I saw, are talking about changing the Open command. Would it be possible to have a tutorial for the Edit command too?
I've been trying to change it for a filetype (xml) and I got lost, in the Registry, as I didn't see a way of doing it through Windows 10!!!
Thanks!

I haven't tested this below in Windows 10, but it may be worth a play with.

Edit Context Menu - Change Default Program in Windows | Windows 8 Help Forums

Brink said:

I haven't tested this below in Windows 10, but it may be worth a play with.

Edit Context Menu - Change Default Program in Windows | Windows 8 Help Forums

Thanks a lot! I'll see how it works, as I was trying to do it with Nirsoft's FileTypesMan and I completely forgot "Default Programs Editor".

Hi Shawn,

--- Update ---

What I want to do, is change the Edit command for .xml files and I tried the W8 tutorial you suggested.
Having in mind that the 'Perceived Type' of .xml is text, Default Programs Editor changes the editor not only of .xml files but all 'text' files.
Apparently Microsoft has changed things a bit, and the app is not aware of the changes, since it hasn't been updated since March 2018, or .xml is a tricky extension, very hard to change!

ddelo said:

Hi Shawn,

--- Update ---

What I want to do, is change the Edit command for .xml files and I tried the W8 tutorial you suggested.
Having in mind that the 'Perceived Type' of .xml is text, Default Programs Editor changes the editor not only of .xml files but all 'text' files.
Apparently Microsoft has changed things a bit, and the app is not aware of the changes, since it hasn't been updated since March 2018, or .xml is a tricky extension, very hard to change!

Well, so much for that idea.

I suppose as a workaround you could try to add your own custom context menu for .xml files using basically the same method in the tutorial below, but substitute the file type and program you want to open it with. You can also name the context menu any you like (ex: "Edit" or "Edit with <insert program name here>")

Open with Notepad - Add or Remove from Context Menu of Files - Windows 7 Help Forums

Since the .xml files couldn't be opened with the Office XML handler (no idea why it was OK with Office 2016 but not with 2019), I used your ".xml reset to default" reg file and then I assigned it to be opened with Dreamweaver, with the correct icon and all.
Once opened with Dreamwaver there is no real need to have an Edit command, but I was trying to see how this can be done with a file extension.

Thanks a lot for your help and suggestions, but I think my quest ends here!

ddelo said:

Since the .xml files couldn't be opened with the Office XML handler (no idea why it was OK with Office 2016 but not with 2019), I used your ".xml reset to default" reg file and then I assigned it to be opened with Dreamweaver, with the correct icon and all.
Once opened with Dreamwaver there is no real need to have an Edit command, but I was trying to see how this can be done with a file extension.

Thanks a lot for your help and suggestions, but I think my quest ends here!

I hear you. Some of those file types can get tricky when trying to only do specific ones.

THE MICROSOFT STORE (UWP) APPS CASE

Just wanted to report another weird case...
I've discovered that installing a UWP app sometimes can self-assign as a default tool for a file extension, and not in the usual way under usual paths:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\

but (also) under 3 other paths, apparently used by UWP apps:

Code:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\PackageRepository\Extensions\windows.fileTypeAssociation\

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\PackageRepository\Packages\<FullAppName>\<AppName>!App\windows.fileTypeAssociation\

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\Repository\Packages\<FullAppName>\App\Capabilities\FileAssociations\

where:
<FullAppName> = f.e. "DotEmu.StreetsofRage4_1.0.20.2_x64__map6zyh9ym1xy"
<AppName> = f.e. "DotEmu.StreetsofRage4_map6zyh9ym1xy"


This happened to me when I installed from MS Store the game Streets of Rage 4, that added itself as a .txt default tool (??? something is buggy in the install process of this game):


After some deep registry browsing I've found the keys responsible for this to happen were:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\PackageRepository\Extensions\windows.fileTypeAssociation\.txt]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\PackageRepository\Extensions\windows.fileTypeAssociation\.txt\AppXtkwtb1vbztme3hqsytc10ppeaknwp549]
"DotEmu.StreetsofRage4_1.0.16.2_x64__map6zyh9ym1xy"=""

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\Repository\Packages\DotEmu.StreetsofRage4_1.0.20.2_x64__map6zyh9ym1xy\App\Capabilities\FileAssociations]
".txt"="AppXtkwtb1vbztme3hqsytc10ppeaknwp549"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\PackageRepository\Packages\DotEmu.StreetsofRage4_1.0.20.2_x64__map6zyh9ym1xy\DotEmu.StreetsofRage4_map6zyh9ym1xy!App\windows.fileTypeAssociation\.txt]
"ACID"="App.AppXxyfd8cpywbntb96et3jj2t6pr2y88e8r.mca"
"DisplayName"="txt"

Windows 10 PRO (x64) 19041.1806 in July 2022...
JFYI, as of today, for me to remove an app from:
suggested Apps panel, below


and from pop-up menu "Open with", below


I had to remove it from registry at:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications
e.g.:


EDIT: another location to check is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\ to remove a user added file extension (e.g. "md_auto_file")