As the years go by, Windows 10 is an operating system that does not stop growing and improving. In this way, those who benefit most directly are us, the users. There are functions that also, due to their widespread use and their usefulness, remain there.
This is the case for applications of importance in File Explorer, Control Panel or Device Manager. These are elements that have stood the test of time and of Windows versions and that are also still widely used. Something similar happens with other built-in features like screenshots or the Windows clipboard, to name a few. But yes, when talking about important and commonly used functionalities, we do not need to go to those complex cases.
We tell you this because the Redmond software, already being the most widely used operating system in desktop environments, also has simple but important options. This is precisely the case that we are going to talk about in these same lines. Specifically, we are going to talk about an option that often goes completely unnoticed, but we remember its importance when we cannot use it. Specifically, by this we mean the popular Open With function.
Windows 10 accumulates an increasing number of failures
As we say, these are some of the simple functions that the operating system itself integrates, but that we only miss when we cannot use them. Keep in mind that as Windows 10 grows, it becomes more complete and complex software. Thus, among other things , this means that the bugs that users around the world detected increases.
It is true that many of these are insignificant or that we can solve them in a simple way, but not all. Sometimes we encounter very important problems, as happens with the usual Windows Update functions. However, in these same lines we are going to show you what you can do in the event that the option mentioned above disappears.
As most of you probably already know first hand, this is an option that usually appears in some of the Windows context menus . So in the event that it suddenly disappears, let’s see what we can do. And it is that, as we have known for a while, these disappearances of functions for no apparent reason, are more common than you might think.
How to bring up the Open With function
So let’s start by telling you that the Open With functionality is an element that normally appears in the context menu of files . Thus, some users have been faced with the situation that suddenly and for no apparent reason, this option that we are commenting on has disappeared from Windows.
That is why we can use a simple solution to solve the problem. For this, all we have to do is change the registry of the operating system itself. Of course, in order to simplify the process and automate it, we will make this change from a text file that we are going to show you. So all we do is create a new text document in Notepad and paste this:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT * shellexContextMenuHandlersOpenwith] @ = “{09799AFB-AD67-11d1-ABCD-00C04FC30936}”With this written, next we only have to save the changes in order to create a new file. For example we can call this Open.reg. Once the file is created, we can close Notepad. In order to recover the Open With function, we just have to run that new file with a double click to accept the changes. Of course, it is recommended that we run it with administrator permissions .
After that we will see a window that tells you that the changes have been made successfully, so we will already have this option available again in Windows.
Windows Open With functionality utility
And it is necessary to take into account that this is a function that we find in the context menu, which can be very helpful. We say this because it can save us a good amount of time when executing all kinds of files , for example from the operating system’s own desktop.
This will allow us to select the application that best suits our needs at this time for the execution of the file. Furthermore, we can also use this from the File Explorer. To say that what we actually find here is a drop-down list with the possible installed applications that can open that file. At the same time it allows us to choose some other that does not appear, or specify the default program for that specific format.
But as we say, on many occasions we do not give the deserved importance to this and many other functions of Windows , until they disappear.