Open with
Open with is a Microsoft Windows feature that allows you to choose what program should be associated with a file type. For example, when opening a file with a .log file extension or any file type Windows does not recognize, you'll be prompted with the Open with window, similar to the below example picture. It is then up to you to decide what program should be used to view the contents of the file. In this example, a .log file is written in plain text, which means it could be open with a text editor such as Notepad. If you are uncertain what program to use, view our file extension listing to see a listing of file extensions and their associated programs.
If the file has already been associated with another program or is opening in a program that does not work, you can change the default Open with program by following the below steps.
- Right-click the file.
- Click Properties.
- In the Properties window, click the Change button to change the Open with program. In the below example, you can see that .txt files open with the Text Pad program.
Tip: If a program has multiple programs associated with it, you can choose the Open with program by right-clicking a file and then opening the program from the "Open with" section in the file menu.
- In Windows when clicking a file get 'Open With' prompt'.
- Computer file extensions and associated program list.
- Viewing the contents of a file.