{"id":35917,"date":"2026-08-28T03:01:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/ITblog\/?p=35917"},"modified":"2026-07-26T14:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T04:09:49","slug":"windows-10-pdf-default-program-issue-primer-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/ITblog\/windows-10-pdf-default-program-issue-primer-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows 10 PDF Default Program Issue Primer Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Windows<\/a>

Windows 10 PDF Default Program Issue Primer Tutorial<\/p><\/div>\n

Was surprised when I read in the February 2018 edition of PC & Tech Authority about the Windows 10 default program for PDFs being, by default, Microsoft Edge (web browser). So put that to the test on a Windows 10 desktop computer, and lo and behold, opening a PDF document via File Explorer with a double click did “fail to launch” because it was trying to open it with the Microsoft Edge web browser. On this same computer we had Adobe Reader XI installed (and … spoiler alert … it is that Adobe doesn’t register with Windows that it should be a default program option for PDFs) so we share with you what we did there, and a PDF presentation<\/a> showing the steps below in pictures …<\/p>\n

To make Adobe Reader XI the default program for opening PDF files, rather than Microsoft Edge, in Windows 10 …<\/p>\n

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  1. in the “Search Windows” bottom left textbox type “control panel”<\/li>\n
  2. clicked “Default Programs” … in the presentation you’ll see us going up the garden path clicking “Set your default programs” but what would be better, and we eventually found out, is to …<\/li>\n
  3. click “Associate a file type or protocol with a program”<\/li>\n
  4. highlighted Extension .pdf (with Current Default as Microsoft Edge) … and, up the top right …<\/li>\n
  5. clicked “Change program…” button<\/li>\n
  6. highlighted “Adobe Reader”<\/li>\n
  7. click OK button<\/li>\n
  8. highlighted Extension .pdf (now has Current Default as Adobe Reader)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    … and now Adobe Reader is that File Reader icon’s default “Open” program, and does a good job opening it!<\/p>\n

    If this was interesting you may be interested in this<\/a> too.<\/p>\n