How to Recover Desktop Shortcuts and Set Default File Associations in Windows 10 🛠️💻📀
Channel: Hetman Software: Data Recovery for Windows
Date: 2017-01-12

👍 Watch how to recover file associations in Windows 10. File associations suggest comparing the file type to the program which will execute this file. Due to Windows errors or failures, such associations may be disrupted and as a result, desktop shortcuts stop working, programs won’t start, photographs are opened with Paint, Microsoft Word documents are opened with Notepad and so on. 

How To Fix Broken File Type Associations in Windows 10:  https://hetmanrecovery.com/recovery_news/how-to-recover-file-associations-in-windows-10.htm

Content:
0:00 - Intro;
0:30 - The first way
1:38 - Second way
2:48 -Third way
3:15 - Repair shortcut and .exe file associations in Windows 10

There are several ways to recover file associations in Windows 10. The first method is like this. For example, if Windows 10 opens all .jpeg files with Paint. To set an association, right-click on the .jpeg file and find the line ‘Open with.’ There you can select standard programs to open this file, search for applications in the online store or choose another application to use with this file. For example, click ‘Choose another app’ or ‘More apps’ and find the program you need. You can also enable the function ‘Always use this app to open this type of files.’ If there is no suitable program in the list, click ‘Look for another app on this PC’ and select manually the program you need from the list of all programs installed. To do it, go to the folder containing, for example, the application IrfanView, click on the exe.file and choose ‘Open.’ After that, this file will be opened with IrfanView. 

The second method is to set manually the applications for every file type. To do it, go to the Control Panel, find ‘Default Programs’ and then ‘Associate a file type or protocol with a program.’ Click on the necessary file type (for example, .doc files) and see what program opens them. In my case it is Notepad. If you want to change this program (or select an application for an unknown file type), click on ‘Change program’ and choose the program we need, that is, Microsoft Word, just as you did it in the first method. Click OK and wait for the process to finish.  After that, the selected application will always open this file type automatically. 

The third method is about resetting associations to default. To do it, go to Settings, System, Default Apps and click ‘Reset’ in the section ‘Reset to the Microsoft recommended defaults’; when you do it, all associations will be reset to the condition after the installation of the operating system. 

All these methods are good when you deal with ordinary file types (images, documents or videos etc). To recover associations for shortcuts and exe.files in Windows 10 you need to use the registry editor. However, to save you the trouble of entering manually the corresponding values into the registry, you can also use ready-made .reg files  (there is a link to download these files in the description for this video). After downloading, start them (or right-click on such file and click ‘Merge’). Click ‘Load,’ then ‘Yes’ to agree to the safety warning, close the registry editor and restart the computer. As a result, associations for .exe and .lnk files should start working just as they did before.  

If you have activated automatic creation of system restore points before, then you could correct the error of file associations much quicker by using these restore points. You can learn more about restore points in Windows 10 by watching my previous video. If you liked this video, click the Like button below and subscribe to our channel to see more. Thank you for your attention and good luck!

Other videos: #Desktop, #Shortcuts, #Windows, #FileAssociations, #ProgramtDefault, #ComputerSettings.

Playlist: Tuning and Adjusting Windows 10: Restore Points, Resetting Passwords, Backup, Defragmentation, Compatibility Mode - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWfvrWYvsWiIIvLGyaCgBbwreA08y_ycT.