P: File associations broken (Windows)

[D Fosse]

This comes up a lot in the U2U forums with every new release, and has done so as far back as I can remember.

When an old version is uninstalled after the new version is installed, file associations break and cannot be restored. It seems the old version takes file associations with it on the way out, leaving them orphaned. What makes this an urgent problem is that the CC app does exactly this when "remove old versions" is checked.

When I want to remove old versions I always do that prior to installing the new, and it seems to me the CC app could do that too.

It seems there are several different registry edits floating around, and users recommend one or the other in the forums depending. Which is the correct one? What do I tell people on the forums?

Two recent threads:
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2415195
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2547864

[pnwfox]

After updating to CC 2019, Windows 10 will no longer allow me to set the default app to open .psd files as Photoshop. Yes, I've restarted, dumped preferences, all the usual stuff. This has been ongoing for 3 days now. Each time I double-click a .psd it asks me which program to open with, and will no longer open linked files into PS when choosing "edit original".

When I go to the "set default app by file type" option, all typical PS file associations list Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 as the default app, except for .psd file type. There is no default app set, and no matter how many times I try and set PS as the default app, it still shows as "choose default app". 

Furthermore, underneath the .psd file type it says "Adobe After Effects Photoshop" (screenshot attached).

Of all the file types I would expect to work without fail, it is a .psd!

[pnwfox]

@J453, my computer did not have CC2018 installed prior to installing CC2019. I had a fresh install of Windows 10 which I then installed the CC2019 apps onto for the first time. This problem is not the same listed above. Please unmerge. Thanks.

[RosaPerry]

Hi NorCalF0x  and Jeffrey Tranberry This might help?

Please read this article. I found it very useful for the same problem I have. I've only just found that this is possibly a Windows problem.

Microsoft Broke Windows 10’s File Associations With a Botched Update

This is a strange bug. It affects some applications, but not others. For example, Windows 10 won’t let you make Adobe Photoshop or Notepad++ a default application for images or text files. But you can make other applications, like IrfanView, VLC, or Google Chrome, your defaults.


https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/microsoft-broke-windows-10s-file-associations-with-a-botched-update/

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Might not work for everyone

But I uninstalled it, leaving my settings in tact.

Reboot and re-installed.

Right click file. Properties, change to cc 2019. That worked for me

I tried a few things first, none others worked

[DJC1962]

Hi
My workstation was upgraded recently from Windows 7 to Windows 10, Now I can't set Photoshop as the default app for .png,  .jpg or .jpeg files.
I have tried all the usual stuff, apart from registry hacks as this is blocked by a corporate group policy.
I have got the program to appear in the open with listing, but ever out IT technician cannot get the Photoshop to be the default for these extensions.
This is seriously affecting our creative workflow and needs to be sorted by Adobe and Microsoft.
It's been an issue for some years, but this is the worst yet...

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Unfortunately the only fix for me was editing the registry as in https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2415195 and it was tip for file associations in Windows Explorer.

[DJC1962]

Registry editing is not allowed by corporate group policy, there has to be another solution...
this is a very costly piece of software, that has a BASIC flaw and should be sorted out by adobe and Microsoft.
Users should not need to resort to registry hacks in order to set the default program for opening supported file types

[Roger Miller]

The worst part is that there seems to be no way to contact Adobe about this file association problem.  Can't phone them.  Can't chat.  Can't e-mail them.  Can't contact them at all.  They say, "We're here to help," but they aren't.  They've insulated themselves from their customers.  I was able to get PSD files associated with Photoshop but I had to uninstall the default program (Sketch something-or-other) and uninstall and reinstall Photoshop CC 2019.  But I don't want to uninstall all of the other photo programs as I use some of them from time to time. 

[Roger Miller]

I solved my problem though I won’t claim this will work for others. Basically, I first did a file association with a program other than Photoshop and then did another file association but, this time, I did it with Photoshop. That seems to have worked. Here’s an example using a BMP file.

1. I located a .bmp file that would open with Photos if you were to double clicked on it.

2. Instead, right click on the .bmp file and select “open with > choose another app > Paint.” (Make sure that you check “always use this app to open .bmp files” in that last step.) That causes the file to now open with Paint instead of Photos if you were to double click on it.

3. Repeat step 2 except this time select Photoshop instead of Paint. Now, double clicking on a .bmp file will cause it to open up in Photoshop.

4. Repeat the steps above for any other files (tif, psd, jpg, etc.) that you want associated with Photoshop.

This procedure worked for me. It took me 4 hours to figure it out. I sure hope it works for others.  It should be noted that I'm using Windows 10 and this problem popped up when I installed Photoshop CC 2019 and then uninstalled Photoshop CC 2018 (wrong order from what I've read).  I also uninstalled Photoshop CC 2019 and reinstalled it before I discovered the procedure above, though I doubt the uninstall/reinstall made any difference.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I solved the problem by changing the Photoshop.exe in the 2019 folder to Photoshop2019.exe and then set this as the default app...Now when I open the file type it opens in 2019 and not the older program.

[EvaWinters]

Thank you! I've had this problem for the past few days and this is the only thing that worked for me.