Change Windows 7 explorer "Edit" context menu action for jpg and other image file types

Question

When I right click on a jpg file in Windows Explorer (Windows 7), I see that there is an "Edit" menu item. If I click this item, it opens the image in MSPaint. Blah. I have Paint.NET installed, and I'd like to change the "Edit" action to open the image in Paint.NET.

How can I go about doing this?

djeidot · Accepted Answer · 2009-11-12T15:08:14.610

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I found this little program while surfing the web: Default Programs Editor. I think it is able to do what you want.

edited Nov 12 '09 at 15:08

answered Nov 11 '09 at 11:55

djeidot

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Bingo! That worked like a charm. Thanks for the info. – slolife Nov 12 '09 at 17:38
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I was searching for a way of doing the same thing for editing HTML files. The program worked well. – Jeromy Anglim Jun 07 '10 at 06:57
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Program's a goddamn life saver. – Cora Aug 01 '15 at 00:24
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This... this is beautiful. Why is this not a part of Windows already? – Rudey Aug 04 '15 at 19:41
@RuudLenders you can rightclick a file, open with, then select default program. Does kinda the same, but is really annoying to use – Mafii Jul 05 '16 at 12:55
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@Mafii that changes the 'open' context option, not 'Edit'. – LinuxDisciple Sep 15 '16 at 19:09
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In XP there was a graphical interface to change and even add context menu options in the file association manager. Later versions of Windows have a different associations GUI where the interface is "simplified" (as in simple-minded) so we don't get all distracted by having too many options. This is exactly why I don't like Microsoft. – LinuxDisciple Sep 15 '16 at 19:14
You can add edit Options (and so on) via the registry and File associations – Mafii Sep 15 '16 at 19:49
It works great! – Marco Demaio Jan 23 '19 at 15:08

score 34 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 24 '15 at 10:08

34

The registry key you want is:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Paint.Picture\shell\edit\command for .bmp files,
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\edit\command for .jpg files.

Change it to "C:\Path\to\your\image\program.exe" "%1" including the " " and it should work.

edited Apr 24 '15 at 10:08

Otiel

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answered Feb 16 '10 at 20:41

And for *.ico* files, the registry key to modify/create is `HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile\shell\edit\command` – Otiel Apr 24 '15 at 09:34
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Modifying `HKCR\SystemFileAssociations\image` also did the trick for `.png` files on my system. Apparently this key overrides any commands defined in `pngfile`; presumably it's the same for `.jpg` files and `jpegfile`. – Lexikos Feb 28 '16 at 02:27
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To use the approach above you would need to know the name that Windows has for the file association (i.e. Paint.Picture). To find that part, run "assoc .bmp" on the command line. If you're looking to change the association on an extension other than ".bmp", you'd run "assoc .thatotherextension". – LinuxDisciple Sep 15 '16 at 19:24

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 20 '20 at 02:00

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Hey just thought i would chuck this in since this page proved useful. i have been trying to change the EDIT function to point to Notepad ++ rather than Notepad for .txt files for a while now. Its under

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\text\shell\edit\command registry key, just point it to your desired text editor.

kudos to CGA

edited Sep 20 '20 at 02:00

Wasif

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answered Jan 28 '11 at 05:47

grayfox

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I have the same problem with the notepad/notepad++ but if I go to regedit and search for the path you provided - there is not text\shell\edit etc. – static Jul 29 '13 at 16:04
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for me it was at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations – Omid Aminiva Feb 02 '16 at 15:44
This was exactly what I was looking for, so I'll happily offset pnuts -2 rep with a +10 for you :) – Bill K Jan 04 '18 at 18:38

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 11 '09 at 08:35

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Right click a jpg file, choose properties, on the general tab click change in the field "Opens with". Browse to the Paint.NET .exe file and select it. Click open and then ok. Now your jpg files should automatically open with Paint.NET.

answered Nov 11 '09 at 08:35

CGA

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This changes the "Open" action, not the "Edit" action, if I'm not mistaken. – Snark Nov 11 '09 at 09:11
Yes it does but it also should add Paint.NET to the "open with" context menu entry which essentially gives the OP the alternatives he wants. – CGA Nov 11 '09 at 12:20
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While good information, this is not what I am looking for. I like what Open does, and don't want to change it. I really am looking to change the Edit context menu. – slolife Nov 11 '09 at 16:44
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I think I found the registry key which controls this context menu: "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\edit\command" Change the value in the default string to your Paint.NET path. In my case I changed it to Xnview like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\XnView\xnview.exe" "%1" Like always when editing the registry, be careful, taking a system restore point before any changes is a good idea. – CGA Nov 12 '09 at 15:05

Change Windows 7 explorer "Edit" context menu action for jpg and other image file types

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