Switch default PDF reader to DC from Acrobat pro, via registry, W7 & W10 ?

[gregd29728472]

I am trying to determine who *really* uses Acrobat Pro (licensing wise) and would like to force a default association of PDF files with Reader DC instead, as a way to let our environment tools (bigfix, SCCM) determine who really fires up Pro for its features and therefore really needs it (otherwise once pro is associated with PDFs it will always preempt reader and open it first, which gives us false positives on actual usage of Pro).

I know the manual ways to do file associations, possibly GPOs, but we would prefer a registry key we can push more controllably if possible... If there a key that lets you change default assignment of PDF files to open with Reader DC only (and remove Acrobat Pro as the default) - if there was we could push that to the entire environment group by group (better than GPO) which would be friendlier than uninstalling pro wholesale and see who really complains and needs it...

I looked at HKCU\SOftware\classes,  open with....

HKLM\Software \classes

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, open with

Deeper under HKLM under windows\current version\Explorer\fileext 

In each case you see Reader and acrobat pro as options a or b, and a key that reads "ab" or "ba" or whatever presumably to affect order...

But I played with all those, restarted explorer, and got occasional success on Win10 but never on Win7. Looks like file associations were system based in 7 and are user based in W10, which makes it really hard...  Is this doable at all via registry ?

Or is there a simpler way, like reinstalling reader DC and forcing it to grab associations ? Just want something I can deploy to thousands of PCs and not have to ask users to repick..

[EnterpriseHelp · Accepted solution]

The supported methods are documented in the Admin Guide. Setting the Default PDF Viewer — Enterprise Administration Guide

You should find what you need there.