Remove Apps From Open With Context Menu In Windows 10

The 'Open with' context menu is special command which allows the user to open the selected file in an alternative app instead of the default associated one. For example, you can open an image with Paint, Photos or Adobe Photoshop. If you have some unwanted apps displayed in this menu, here is how to remove them from there.

The default program is the one that the OS launches when you double-click a file in File Explorer. Open with allows you to override it quickly using the context menu.

Your 'Open with' menu may include apps you don't want to see for certain file types. It can be an already removed third-party programs app or a wrong app you used accidentally to open a file.

Here is how it can be done.

To remove apps from the Open with menu in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Open the Registry Editor app.
2. Go to the following Registry key.

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts

   See how to go to a Registry key with one click.

3. Expand the FileExts folder and go to the file extension for which you want to remove an 'Open with' context menu item.
4. Expand the extension key (e.g. '.png') and then select the OpenWithList subkey.
5. On the right, right-click on the string value (REG_SZ) for the appropriate app and select Delete to remove it from the Open with context menu.
6. Repeat the steps above for other apps you want to remove from the Open with context menu.

You are done. Now you can close the Registry Editor app.

Tip: Open with allows changing the default program permanently. Disabling it also helps to prevent your users from accidentally have a file type associated with a wrong program. The Open with menu can be disabled with a simple Registry tweak. See the article Remove Open With Context Menu in Windows 10. Also, you can add the 'Open with' command to URL files.

That's it.

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