F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop You cannot choose non-Microsoft applications as your default app.

You cannot choose non-Microsoft applications as your default app.

You cannot choose non-Microsoft applications as your default app.

M
MrKryp
Senior Member
643
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM
#1
It's really frustrating. In Windows 10, navigating to settings>apps>default apps makes it hard to pick any program outside the bundled ones or from the MS Store. For instance, I can't choose Chrome or Brave as my default browser; I'm limited to Microsoft Edge, IE, and Edge again. Without an icon, it still opens in Edge, but the option to search for apps in the Microsoft Store is gone. When using Brave as my main browser, Opera and Firefox are available in the MS Store, but I have no idea how the store version would affect my current setup. I really don't want to use Edge, even though I love Brave. I managed to set Music Player and Video Player to VLC by downloading it from the MS Store, though I'm not sure how that worked. The new VLC icon in my start menu still points to my existing installation, so I think my preferences are safe. However, FastStone Image Viewer is my preferred default photo viewer for all file types. I managed to get it to function before, but I'm not sure how to fix the browser issues. I tried resetting default apps in Settings, but it only changed Photo Viewer and its file associations back to Windows Photos. FastStone isn't available in the menu options, and it's not listed in the MS Store. The 'Choose default apps by file type' or 'Protocol' options still only show bundled or MS Store apps. Notepad++ was the only one with a menu to adjust file associations, but it didn't help. This situation is really annoying!
M
MrKryp
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM #1

It's really frustrating. In Windows 10, navigating to settings>apps>default apps makes it hard to pick any program outside the bundled ones or from the MS Store. For instance, I can't choose Chrome or Brave as my default browser; I'm limited to Microsoft Edge, IE, and Edge again. Without an icon, it still opens in Edge, but the option to search for apps in the Microsoft Store is gone. When using Brave as my main browser, Opera and Firefox are available in the MS Store, but I have no idea how the store version would affect my current setup. I really don't want to use Edge, even though I love Brave. I managed to set Music Player and Video Player to VLC by downloading it from the MS Store, though I'm not sure how that worked. The new VLC icon in my start menu still points to my existing installation, so I think my preferences are safe. However, FastStone Image Viewer is my preferred default photo viewer for all file types. I managed to get it to function before, but I'm not sure how to fix the browser issues. I tried resetting default apps in Settings, but it only changed Photo Viewer and its file associations back to Windows Photos. FastStone isn't available in the menu options, and it's not listed in the MS Store. The 'Choose default apps by file type' or 'Protocol' options still only show bundled or MS Store apps. Notepad++ was the only one with a menu to adjust file associations, but it didn't help. This situation is really annoying!

C
CHE3SY
Junior Member
17
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM
#2
Chrome reported an update failure and suggested reinstalling. After restarting, a Discord link opened a progress menu.
C
CHE3SY
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM #2

Chrome reported an update failure and suggested reinstalling. After restarting, a Discord link opened a progress menu.

T
TylerRaine
Junior Member
2
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM
#3
It seems fixing the problem involved downloading and reinstalling the latest browser versions from their sites. I managed to pick it when opening links in Discord, though I wasn’t sure if it showed as an option in Default Apps. I’m testing this with FastStone now, but I’m less optimistic since I can’t really rely on the Discord method. I’ll share an update if it works, and then I’ll mark this as the answer.
T
TylerRaine
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM #3

It seems fixing the problem involved downloading and reinstalling the latest browser versions from their sites. I managed to pick it when opening links in Discord, though I wasn’t sure if it showed as an option in Default Apps. I’m testing this with FastStone now, but I’m less optimistic since I can’t really rely on the Discord method. I’ll share an update if it works, and then I’ll mark this as the answer.

T
Turkir
Member
193
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM
#4
I opened the PNG file, chose FastStone as the file type, and it appeared in the Default Apps list. Great!
T
Turkir
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM #4

I opened the PNG file, chose FastStone as the file type, and it appeared in the Default Apps list. Great!

M
Meni040
Member
71
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM
#5
Consider using Linux Mint Cinnamon with any browser you prefer, along with VLC or similar media players. For FastStone, there are numerous other image viewing and editing tools available. The key issue is that these options are free, so you don’t have to spend money on them.
M
Meni040
05-20-2022, 07:37 PM #5

Consider using Linux Mint Cinnamon with any browser you prefer, along with VLC or similar media players. For FastStone, there are numerous other image viewing and editing tools available. The key issue is that these options are free, so you don’t have to spend money on them.