We have see how we can set or change File Associations & Extensions in Windows 7 | 8 via the Control Panel Default Programs applet. Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 also allow you to configure these File Associations via PC Settings.
For those who may not know, each file in your Windows operating system has an extension in its filename eg. .jpg, .pdf, etc. These extensions are used to identify the program, with which, Windows can open this file.
Configure File Associations in Windows 8.1
In Windows 8.1,
open the Charms bar, click
Settings and then
Change PC Settings. In the left side, click on
Search and Apps>
Defaults.
Now you can change the default apps under the
Choose default apps. Click on the app to change defaults or click on Choose a default to ass a default for an app.
You can also choose and set default apps by file type or by Protocol.
Click on
Choose default apps by file typelink to associate file types with specific apps. Clicking on a Modern UI or Desktop app will allow you to set the defaults.
Click on
Choose default apps by protocolto associate protocols with specific apps, and do the needful here.
Export, import File Association settings list in Windows 8.1Once you have manually configured all the file associations, if you wish you can also export and save these settings. This can also be very useful if you are running a network of multiple computers and need to deploy the same settings on all.
To export the list,
open an elevated Command Prompt, type the following
▼ and hit
Enter.
Dism.exe /Online /Export-DefaultAppAssociations:C:\FileAssociations.xml
You will see a
FileAssociations.xml file on your C Drive.
To import these mappings you have to use
▼:
Dism.exe /Online /Import-DefaultAppAssociations:C:\FileAssociations.xml
More on this at
TechNet.
courtesy:twc
