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mewtowo
New Participant
November 17, 2018
Question

Changing .psd file association on windows - bug??

  • November 17, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 1034 views

This has been happening recently, I'm going to take a guess ever since the most recent windows update?

Every time I open a .psd file, I get a dialogue that says "how do you want to open this file?" and then I open it with photoshop.

So, I tried to go into settings and change the default program for .psd files to Photoshop...which didn't work.

So I went into control panel and tried changing the association there, didn't work either.

Went into explorer, went to a psd file, went into properties. Said "unknown application" for the default program. Tried changing it to Photoshop. Even used the path to the Photoshop 2019 .exe file. Still didn't work.

Opened the command line (as administrator), tried to do this. Got an error.

and then:

Also, something odd I noticed - in properties, the file type is labeled as this? Aftereffects Photoshop File??? Sounds weird.

I know this is going to absurd lengths just to get rid of an annoying dialogue every time I open a psd file, but I just want to solve this underlying problem in case any more issues arise in the future.

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

D Fosse
D Fosse
Community Expert
November 17, 2018

Yes, it's a bug - in the Adobe installers, or in Windows, or most likely a combination.

When old versions are uninstalled, they often take file associations with them, leaving them orphaned in the Windows registry and impossible to re-assign to the new version. To avoid the problem, always follow strict version order when installing and uninstalling. Latest installed should always go out first.

We've had a lot of threads about this. I've reported it upwards, but so far the only official response has been this help page, which doesn't work for everybody: https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/file-associations-broken-uninstall-applications.html

Some have fixed it by a complete uninstall/reinstall, others need to edit the Windows registry - but the actual registry keys that need editing may vary.

I strongly advise everyone affected by this to report it on the feedback site. That's the official bug report channel and the only way to keep up attention.

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/categories/photoshop_family_photoshop

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