Reset Open and Save As Dialog in Windows 10

In Windows 10, almost every app which works with user files, is able to show the Open dialog and the Save as dialog. These two dialogs look quite similar, but each has its own purpose, as is clear from their names. The Open dialog allows the user to pick a file or folder. The Save dialog lets the user choose a destination folder and the name of a file to save.

Windows is able to save the settings of the Open and Save dialogs, so the next time you open them, they will look exactly the same as the last time you used them. Windows can remember the dialog size, the view settings, and the last browsed location (for some apps, this feature is not supported). If your Open or Save as dialog is messed up, you can try to reset it.

In Windows 10, the Open and Save as dialog parameters are stored under the following Registry keys:

For classic dialogs:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32

The following screenshot shows the classic dialog.

For the newer Open dialog:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CIDOpen

For the Save as dialog:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CIDSave

To reset the Open and Save As dialogs in Windows 10, you need to do the following.

1. Close all running apps.
2. Open Registry Editor.
3. Navigate to the following Registry key:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\

   Tip: You can access the desired Registry key with one click.

4. Delete the mentioned subkeys one by one.
   

   ComDlg32 CIDOpen CIDSave

   

Alternatively, you can apply the following Registry tweak:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CIDOpen]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CIDSave]

Copy-paste the text above into Notepad and save it as a *.reg file. Once you double-click the file and confirm the import operation, the dialogs will have their default look.

To save your time, you can download the following ready-to-use Registry file from here:

Download Registry File

That's it.

Support us

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options: