I know that generally I must rely on Windows prompts to manage the default apps associated to any given file extension or protocol ( https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2015/05/20/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-10122-for-pcs/ ), but I am wondering if there is a file where I can do this manually?
Thanx
The default apps are maintained in the Windows Registry at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\. It's easy to view and modify the items shown in the Open with > context menu. In the example below, brave.exe and msedge.exe are two choices that are available in that menu.
However, setting a particular app as the user choice is not easily done through the Registry , because the choice is encrypted, as shown below. Microsoft chose to do so to prevent malicious apps from setting themselves as default. Coincidentally, it also made it more difficult for a user to select a non-Microsoft product as default, e.g., replacing Edge as default browser with Firefox or Brave.
If you want a new application as default, it can be added through the shell menu. For example, to add pestudio as an application that can open any (wild card, *) file when right-clicked, in HKEY_CLASSE_ROOT\*\shell, add the keys and values as shown below, not encrypted.
