Open with - reset standard links

Have you linked a new program to a file type with "Open with ..." and now want to reset it to the default? In Windows XP, this was still possible via the "File types" tab in the folder options. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, the file types are somewhat hidden.

Reset file links by registry yourself

To reset the association of the file types, you have to open the registry and delete a folder there. In our example, we linked our image file Flyer.webp to the VLC player - not very cleverly because the VLC player cannot display image files. To reset the link, do the following:

1. Enter "regedit" in the search bar of the start menu.
2. Right click on "regedit.exe" and select "Run as administrator".
3. Confirm in the dialog box with "Yes" that you want to open the program as administrator.
4. This will open the Registry Editor. Double-click on "HKEY_CURRENT_USER".
5. Double click on "Software".
6. Double click on "Microsoft".
7. Double click on "Windows".
8. Double click on "Current Version".
9. Double click on "Explorer".
10. Double click on "FileExts".
11. Here you will find all possible file extensions - ".webp" is relevant for us. Find this from the list, then right-click to delete this folder.
12. Close the registry editor and restart.
13. Now the file extension should be reset to the standard and we can open our Flyer.webp file again normally with the Windows Photo Viewer.

Change standard links under Vista via freeware

If you prefer to have the file extension reset under Vista instead of clicking through the registry yourself, the free freeware "ExtMan" will help you.