Setting Default Apps in Windows 10

Windows 10 brings many nice new features, but one thing it doesn't do is allow MVSIT to set what applications and programs run by default for our users. Thus, it's up to each user to set their own defaults. Thankfully, this is easily done with about a minute of work:

First, open the Start Menu, and start typing "defaults" (without the quotes) - "Default app settings" should appear at the top of the results. Click on it or hit Enter.

In the screen that opens (see figure 1 below), choose your desired default apps for each function listed. Our recommendations are:

• 1. Google Chrome for Email

  2. VLC media player for Music player

  3. IrfanView for Photo viewer

  4. VLC media player for Video player

  5. Google Chrome for Web browser

figure 1

One more thing that's recommended to change is the PDF reader. Microsoft's Edge web browser is the default in Windows 10 and it does a fine job, but if you want full features and security, you'll want to use Foxit:

In the Default apps window, click "Choose default apps by file type."

In the window that opens (see figure 2 below), scroll down until you find ".pdf" (hint: they're in alphabetical order) and change it to Foxit Reader.

figure 2