How to Change File Associations

It’s not complicated at all, but it’s a frequent question. How do you change the program that opens a file based on its extension? For example, I often prefer to open text files with WordPad instead of NotePad in Windows. I like the formatting better, so I associate .txt files with WordPad instead of the default of NotePad.

There are several ways to do it; here’s one:

1. Right-click on any file with the extension in question (such as “.txt”)
2. Choose Open With and then click on Choose Program…
3. In the dialog box that appears, choose the program you wish to associate with the extension and check the box near the bottom of the window that says “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file”.
4. Click the OK button and you’re done.