One of the complaints of Windows 11 is that it makes it difficult to change the default applications and the system browser. But the fact is, all the default apps in Windows 11 must be associated with a single file system, which is the only difference from Windows 10. Although Microsoft tries to bring the native Edge browser to careless users, you can easily replace it with a browser. different. Read on to learn how to change the default apps and browser in Windows 11 to whatever you want.
How to Change Default Apps in Windows 11
Like its predecessor, Windows 10, all system changes in Windows 11 follow the default “settings” in the search menu. The only thing that has changed is the search icon in the center of the taskbar, which can be a bit difficult to locate. To change the browser or any other default Windows 11 application, select “Applications” from the system menu.
After entering the application menu, select the “default application” option. Note that you can search for “default apps” directly on the home screen instead of navigating here. Here, you will notice that the default values are changed according to “File and file types and links, other default values”, which is completely new to Windows 11.
For example, if you want to establish a file type connection for a Word document, you must search for “.docx, .doc” or other document formats and associate them with Word. After you do this, Word will become the default application associated with all files you select.
Other file types, such as “.odt”, can be customized using a completely different default application, such as LibreOffice. This is very useful because these Open Office applications are considered best for file types such as odt.
Windows 11 gives its users system flexibility to open different types of files for separate default applications without switching back and forth. Although this requires an extra step, it is certainly a nice feature.
If you don’t want to remember the file name, you can also change the application’s default file association. To do this, we refer to the following example of changing the default browser in Windows 11.
How to Change the Default Browser in Windows 11
As mentioned above, you can change the default browser in Windows 11 through the “Default applications” menu accessed from Search. You can change the default browser from Edge to Google Chrome, Firefox or any other browser installed on your Windows 11 device.
First, find another browser application, such as Chrome, under “Set default values for applications”. Click on the application icon, such as Google Chrome or any other browser that you want to set as the default.
You will find a large number of browser extensions, such as .htm, .html, .pdf, .shtml, .svg, .https, etc. All these extensions need to be changed one by one to the default browser application of your choice. Although this is an extra step, you only need to do it once.
That’s it! Your default browser has been changed.
However, there is an annoying pop-up window that invites you to check Microsoft Edge instead of the browser of your choice. In fact, this is a bit invasive. But you can safely ignore the message. Again, it only needs to be done once.
The ability to change the default browser in Windows 11 based on the file type is very useful in certain situations, such as PDF files. Based on this new setting, you can quickly switch between PDF readers (such as Foxit or Adobe) and Google Chrome, Edge or other browsers.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why does Windows 11 make it difficult to change your default browser?
Many users are surprised by the additional steps required to change the default browser. The default browser change is solving more advanced problems related to file extensions.
In Windows 11, there is an additional function to configure and customize .html, .htm, .https, .pdf, .svg and other file extensions according to the browser and application of your choice. This is the only change from Windows 10 to Windows 11. If you don’t like the default options, you only need to change them once.
Remember that Windows 10 also allows you to select the default application by file type and protocol, but it is a hidden secondary option as an advanced step. In Windows 11, using file types is the main option to change any default application.
2. How can I go back to Windows 10 from Windows 11?
If you decide that you don’t like Windows 11, there are two ways to return to the previous version of Windows 10. In the first method, if you created a recovery USB drive while installing Windows 11 from Windows 10, you can use it to recover your Windows 10 system. To access it, go to “System> Recovery> Advanced Startup” and start your device.
For users who wish to switch within 10 days of installation, you can use the “Back” option to go to the latest version of Windows 10.
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