What is open with?

You can open a file with your chosen program by using Windows' Open With function. The software that opens those files may not be the normal Windows program. When you right-click (or press and hold) a file you wish to open, the Open With feature appears. The option to "Open with" is available in the right-click menu. When selecting or highlighting the Open with entry, a submenu with numerous choices is displayed.

You can select what program should be connected to a certain file type using the Open with function in Microsoft Windows. The Open with window, for instance, appears whenever a file with the.log file extension or any other file type that Windows doesn't recognize is opened. The choice of software to view the file's contents is, entirely up to you.

Let’s see what open with looks like in 2 different operating systems, i.e., Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Windows 10

Windows 11

The options for the Open With feature are the same in both operating systems, despite the little visual differences.

Let's take windows 11 as a guide to understand how open with works. If you are using windows 10, everything works the same, even if circumstances may appear slightly different.

You always see one or more apps shown in the Open with menu. The default program for opening files of your file type is listed first. For instance, we are attempting to open an a.pdf file in the screenshot below. Since Adobe Acrobat DC is already set as the PC's default application for opening.pdf files, it is the first choice. Then, because they can also open files of this type, we can also see web browsers like Google Chrome in the Open with menu. Any listed programs can be clicked to open the file in that app.

If the Open with menu alternatives don't suit your needs, you can select "Search the Microsoft Store." This operation launches the Microsoft Store search page and searches for a program that can open similar files. Here it involves.pdf files. This can be useful when you need to open a file with an unknown extension.

It would be wiser to select "Choose another app" when returning to the Open with menu. That's because Windows then shows you several programs compatible with the file you wish to open. The default app set comes first on the list, followed by the Microsoft-recommended app and any additional apps installed on your PC.

Choose the program you wish to use to open your file by scrolling down the list until you see it, then click or tap OK. Selecting More programs may further expand the Open with the list.

By choosing a program from the list, selecting the "Always use this app to open..." box, and clicking OK, Windows will no longer use that app by default to open files of that kind. Windows will now be forced to show all the programs it believes can open your file. Though, apps that don't function with your file type are included in this long list. If the app you wish to use to open the file is not included in the extended list but is still installed on your computer, select "Look for another app on this PC" by clicking or tapping.

You can browse your PC and choose the executable file of the app you wish to use to open your file. The Open with dialogue is displayed when you take this action. Click or touch Open after that. Your file is now open in the application you choose.

In some circumstances, the Open With feature is highly beneficial. It can be extremely useful when you wish to view a file's contents rather than run it. For instance, the Registry Editor will run a .reg or .key file if you double-click it. Use Open With and choose a program like Notepad if you want to read a .key file's contents to ensure nothing malicious is within. Double-click on the file will allow you to see what is within it before running it.

Security certificates work the same way. Before Windows executes them, you can use the Open With the command to see what's inside. Or, if you're a software developer, you might need to utilize Open With to open a code sample kept in an a.py file in Python, for instance, without altering the default program for editing code that you frequently use, which might be different from Python's IDLE.