How to Change Default Apps in Windows 11

One page, two ways in

The Default apps page replaces the single dashboard Windows 10 had: the list of categories with one click each is gone. Instead you search in two directions — by application, which shows every file type and protocol the app can claim, or by file type and link type, where you type .pdf, .jpg or MAILTO and assign a program. Both searches live in the same place, Settings → Apps → Default apps, and the address ms-settings:defaultapps jumps there from the Run dialog.

The classic route still works too: right-click any file in File Explorer, choose Open with → Choose another app, pick the program and press Always instead of Just once. This is the fastest way to fix a single file type you open often. Windows remembers the choice per account, so other users on the same PC keep their own defaults.

The defaults worth checking first

A handful of associations decide most of your daily experience, and every one of them lives on the same settings page. Go through them once after setting up Windows and again after each big feature update, which occasionally re-claims a few file types for Microsoft's own apps. If the Set default button on an app's page leaves out a type you want, assign that single type through the file-type search instead.

• Web browser — open the browser's page and press Set default; it claims https, http, .htm and .html together
• PDF reader — search .pdf and choose your viewer; Microsoft Edge is the out-of-the-box default
• Email — the MAILTO link type decides which client opens when you click an email address
• Photos — .jpg, .jpeg and .png, each assigned separately or via the app's Set default button
• Video and music — .mp4 and .mp3 for your player of choice, such as VLC or Media Player
• Plain text — .txt, which Notepad holds by default

When Windows switches defaults back

Two things reset your choices: feature updates, which sometimes re-claim associations for Edge, Photos and friends, and new app installs, whose installers ask to become the default — decline unless you mean it. When a reset happens, Windows shows a notification in the corner, so the fix is quick: reopen Default apps and reassign the type. Defaults set through the Settings page rather than only through Open with are noticeably stickier.

To undo everything at once, the Reset all default apps button at the top of the page returns every association to the Microsoft-recommended state. It is a blunt instrument — plan on redoing your favorites afterwards. For browsers specifically, install the browser first and press Set default on its page right after: that single click covers the four web associations Windows tracks.

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