Can't setup "Open with... XD" functionality

[SharakPL]

I want my .ai files to be opened in XD by default so that when I double click a file it will open in XD. The problem is there's no XD in a list of available apps. I managed to track it in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Adobe.CC.XD_44.0.12.7_x64__adky2gkssdxte. Had to make myself an owner of C:\Program Files\WindowsApps folder to even access it. I chose XD.exe so now I get "Adobe XD" on my "Open with..." list, but still can't open any files. I get a an error:

*********

Access denied for a file
"<here-goes-path-to-ai-file>"

Access denied!

*********

How am I supposed to setup this?

[Spas K.]

Xd is a UWP app. This is different than other applications you can find in Program Files. Even if you point to the XD.exe found in the WindowsApps folder, it won't work, because these apps aren't opened via that .exe, but as a package.

For a UWP app to appear in the default Open With options for .ai files, this particular extension must be included in the package manifest. It seems the dev team didn't include .ai files as a file type Xd can open, even though you can clearly open them from the UI once you're in Xd.

So what you are trying to do isn't possible right now. Don't know if that can be called a bug, it seems more like a decision or something that wasn't thought of at the development stage.

[SharakPL]

Yeah, that's what I figured so far. Even found a tutorial on how to add support for new extension to Windows Store app but it requires some special values like "AppXea46y3k4tynme684q1dgefbnb0b9r8ec". Could use some help with finding the right one...

[SharakPL]

That's what I have for now (the defaults) in my Registry:

[Spas K.]

Okay, I managed to do it, but the other way around 🙂

Here's how:

Go to:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\PackageRepository\Extensions\windows.fileTypeAssociation\

Now find ".xd" key in there, and inside it, copy the name of the key, and the String inside it:

Add a new key for ".ai", just like the ".xd" one, because it won't be there at first (at least I didn't have it):

And finally, recreate what we had in the ".xd" key, but for the new ".ai" key.

Add the same key and string within it:

And it's done, I can now choose it from the default apps list:

[SharakPL]

Thanks! It works. Although I think it's going to break after next update of XD. But at least it's easy to setup now 🙂

[Spas K.]

Doubt it, these IDs should stay the same, and we added Xd to the .ai extension, if it was the other way around, Xd might indeed have wiped it on reinstall for example.

[SharakPL]

Adobe.CC.XD_44.0.12.7_x64__adky2gkssdxte was added and it clearly points to specific version so I think it will break eventually. There should be more universal way of doing this. Maybe there's something in settings to enable all MS apps to be picked from "Open with..." list, not just the ones specified for this kind of file.

[Spas K.]

Ah, you're right, we'll see what happens 🙂

I agree with you there, it's more of just bad design for the whole UWP thing by Microsoft, which isn't really a surprise... Maybe in W11 they will finally add all the settings from the old CP to the new interface. I'm pretty sure this was possible in earlier versions of W10 and they just removed a screen where you could point any app to any extension.

[SharakPL]

Unfortunately I had to revert these changes, because XD stopped working after Windows restart 😞

[Spas K.]

That's strange, I restarted, but nothing bad happened afterwards. Everything's working as normal, and I can still open .ai files with Xd through "Open With". Maybe you changed something with previous tries?