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Cannot change default to InDesign 2021

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
November 6, 2020
6 replies
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I updated to InDesign 2021 (16), but have left 2020 intact. Now I cannot change the default program in Windows 10. The program does not show up in the "Default apps", and even if I right click and choose the correct file, it does not register. I have to open 2021 and then use the "open file" option. There is no way to click on an InDesign file and have it default to 2021.

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Correct answer ericmoore

I changed the name of indesign.exe to xindesign.exe on the default version. When I right click on a document and choose open with it lets me find the old indesign.exe and change that to the default.

Then I changed the name of the newer version back to indesign.exe

ericmooreCorrect answer

Participant

I changed the name of indesign.exe to xindesign.exe on the default version. When I right click on a document and choose open with it lets me find the old indesign.exe and change that to the default.

Then I changed the name of the newer version back to indesign.exe

C

Chris282436304w22

Participant

Legend 😄

Randy Hagan

Community Expert

I believe can help you here. Let's go step-by-step through the process to do that with Microsoft Windows 10:

Open Windows File Explorer and navigate your way to one of your InDesign document files.
Click once to select the file, then right-click once to open the context-sensitive menu, as shown below.

Select the Open with... flyaway menu command.
This opens a popup menu that will show first which program is the default for opening the .indd file. In my example below, that is Adobe InDesign 2021.

Clicking on the More apps link will show you perhaps several options for other programs which may be able to open your .indd file. Many of them may be wrong. Scroll to the bottom and you'll see a link to Look for another app on this PC. Click that link.
Navigate your way to your InDesign.exe file for InDesign CC 2021. By default, that should be stored on your [System drive (generally C:)]\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2021 folder, as shown below.

This will return you to the popup menu, now with Adobe InDesign 2021 shown at the top of the menu. Select the Always use this app to open .indd files check box, then click the OK button.
Now double-click the .indd file in your Windows File Manager, and it should open with Adobe InDesignCC 2021. Then go back to the file manager, pick another .indd file and confirm that it selects IDCC2021 as well.

Realize after you do this, you're not done yet. You'll have to go through this same process for InDesign template (.indt), InDesign library (.indl), InDesign book (.indb) and InDesign CS4 or Later interchange (.idml) files too to set IDCC 2021 for your default program straight across the board for working with InDesign files.

Hope this helps,

Randy

S

Stephan M.

Participant

Hello Randy,

Thanks, that is indeed how it is supposed to work, but at least in my case it did not. Only directly changing the registry helped (but I would not recommend that unless you know what you're doing).

Also this gets randomly overwritten when InDesign versions are updated.

BTW I had started a thread about a related issue earlier.

S

Stephan M.

Participant

I solved this problem by going into the registry editor and changing the key "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\InDesign.Document\Shell\Open\Command" to point to the correct version.

However only do this if you happy to take some risks and know what you're doing.

D

DLaskody

Participant

Thanks. This is confirmed. Works.

M

mylest44359532

Participating Frequently

I had this problem too, however re-installing just 2021 didn't do it for me. Unless I uninstall and reinstall all indesign versions and install them in the correct order.

The only way I was able to fix this was to type "default apps" in the start menu, click on "choose a default app for each type of file" , look for .indd extension, then choose the correct app you want it to open with, in this case, Indesign 2021. Hope this helps anyone else with this issue.

jane-e

Community Expert

@mylest44359532 wrote:

Unless I uninstall and reinstall all indesign versions and install them in the correct order.

In case anyone else reads this thread, Adobe only offers the current version and the one previous for reinstalling. If older versions are uninstalled, they may be gone.

~ Jane