Cannot "Open With Photoshop 2026"

Thanks for the suggestions. Uninstalling PS 2025, leaving only PS 2026 for it to choose from seems to have done the trick

Before I installed PS2026 on my Windows 11 PC, if I right-clicked on a RAW file from any of my cameras, I was offered 'Open with' PS 2025 as an edit option. Since my upgrade, I find that files from my older (DSLR) cameras, EOS 5Dm4 and 7Dm2 are being offered to 'open with' both PS 2025 and 2026. So far, so good. However, when I try to do the same with my newer mirrorless bodies (R5, R7 and R5m20, the option for PS 2026 is not given and I am offered only PS2025. These files can be opened to edit in 2026, but this is not being offered as an option when I right click on the file.

Why does Adobe launch a product that doesn't work? Why does Adobe launch new products when the previous ones are full of issues that were not dealt with in the first place? AI will be helpful on a product that already does its job, not one with issues that were not corrected. Adobe seems to forget that users should spend more time working, instead of searching for patches and corrections that allow them to respect their deadlines.

This has happened to me before, what fixed it for me was resetting the file association through the old Control Panel interface instead of the newer Windows 11 Default Apps settings.

Here’s what I did:

1. Open Control Panel (you can search for it in the Start menu).

2. Go to Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program.

3. Scroll down to .webp, click it, then hit Change program.

4. If Photoshop 2026 doesn’t show up in the list, click More apps > Look for another app on this PC, and manually navigate to the Photoshop 2026 executable (usually something like C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2026\Photoshop.exe).

5. Select it, hit OK, and that should force Windows to use the right version.

In my case, even though I had multiple Photoshop versions installed, Windows was still defaulting to the older one until I manually pointed to the 2026 .exe. Also make sure the old version isn't registering the file type again after install, uninstalling any older versions might help if the problem persists.

This is broken file associations, most likely caused by uninstalling the old version after the new one has been installed. The old version takes file associations with it on the way out.

Normally, an uninstall-reinstall will fix it and reinstate the correct file associations.

I really wish Adobe would make this small change to the CC installer:

If "remove older versions" is turned on, by whatever updater configuration, uninstall the older versions first (after checking system compatibility). Then install the new version.

This would completely avoid the problem, which turns up regularly with every update cycle.