Default Apps Question

I haven't found anything...so figured I'd ask. Is there a solution yet to allow you to select an app and make it the default app for any file types it supports...similar to how it was done in Win 10 and before? Right now I literally have to click the app and manually change existing default app to it (VLC in this case for all media file types).

Probably the best way is, within the desired program, if possible!

Windows 11 is a major pain in the a$$ that way!

W10 was much more cooperative!

To bypass the Settings screen, you need a tool like SetUserFTA which knows how to defeat the File Type Association (FTA) security hash protecting any changes to the assigned Apps.

Here's the manual process in a nutshell:

1. Search for your App's list of supported FTA's: "ftype | findstr /i AppName"
2. Create (or overwrite) the file association for each extension, using "cmd /c assoc .extension=type"
3. Run "SetUserFTA extension AppName" to enforce the same preferences. This will stop Explorer from asking you to confirm the default App every time you open a new file extension for the first time.

Or you can use my script which automates the whole process, by downloading SetUserFTA and doing the work. I've only tested it on WMP and VLC, so it might break with other apps. Backup your system in case the script can't figure out the FTA naming patterns.

VLC is weird for example, it wants to steal *.zip as a file type for itself. /shrug

Run as Administrator:

If everything works, you should see the media file icons change back and forth. Before MS implemented the security hash, it was simple to script the Default App change and all app developers could do it for themselves. Now they can't -- without using SetUserFTA.