How to Change the Windows 10 Default from Wordpad to Word

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Oh no! Your .dox or .txt document is opening in WordPad, so what do you do? Since WordPad can open these and other file formats (like .rtf), you just need to change some default app settings to change Word as your default. This wikiHow article will teach you how to change the default app from WordPad to Word in Windows 10.

Things You Should Know

Open your Windows settings and navigate to Apps > Default Apps . [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
Select Choose default apps by file type .
Change the app next to .docx, .rtf, and .txt to Word.

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Open Settings. Press Win + I on your keyboard to open the Settings window. Alternatively, you can click the gear icon in the Start menu.

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Click Apps . It's next to a list icon. [2] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

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Click Default Apps . You'll see this menu option in the menu on the left side of the window next to a list icon with an arrow on it. [3] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

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You'll see file types listed on the left side of the window next to the default app used to open them.

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If you don't have an active Microsoft 365 subscription, you'll see a prompt to open the store.
If there's no default listed, click Choose a default and select Word from the list. [5] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

Expert Q&A

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The file types are automatically changed when you don't have an active subscription to Word on your computer. If you have an active subscription, but all your defaults changed and you can't open the document in Word, you will have to uninstall and reinstall Office. [6] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

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