How do I change the default app for file types in Android?
|
When you have multiple apps that do the same thing, Android asks you which one you want to be the “default.” This is one of Android’s best features and you should take advantage of it. We’ll show you how. There are a number of different default app categories. You can set a default web browser,
search engine, phone app, messaging app, home screen launcher, and more. When something happens that requires one of these apps, the one you chose as the “default” will be used. RELATED:
How to Change Browsers on Android The good news is this process is essentially the same on every Android device. First, swipe down once or twice from the top of the screen—depending on your phone—to open the notification shade and tap the gear icon. Next, go to “Apps.” Select “Default Apps” or “Choose Default Apps.” Here are all the different categories of default apps. Tap one to see the options. You’ll see a list of all the apps you have installed that can be set as the default. Simply select the one you want to use. That’s all there is to it! You can go through and do this for all the different categories. Whenever you install a new app that can be set as a default–like a home screen launcher or web browser—this will effectively reset your default preference for that category, allowing you to set the newly-installed app as default without having to go through much hassle. If you want to change it back, just follow these instructions again. RELATED: How to Reset Default Apps on Android READ NEXT
How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. Want to know more? File handling is one of the basic stuffs every smartphone user needs to manage as a routine. It could be a spreadsheet file received as an attachment in your email or a PDF file that you have downloaded from an app or website. When you have multiple apps for opening the same file type it is necessary to set default apps to open files in Android phones. This will help avoiding searching for the app every time and automatically open the file with your favorite app. In this article, we will explain how you can do this easily. Default File Opening Behavior in AndroidThe latest Android 12 has adopted an ask-for-every-time policy to open the files in apps. Let’s say, you open a PDF file for the first time in your phone. In this case, Android will display a list of supported apps installed on your phone to open the file like “Office,” “One Drive,” etc. Once you choose a particular app, for example, “Office,” Android will open the file in the Office app. However, your phone will keep opening the PDF files in “Office” only in that session. Now, if you open the PDF file after certain time, you will be prompted once again to choose the app to open the file. This will be annoying to select the app to open the same file type each time. Instead of that, you may always prefer to open PDF files using a favorite PDF reader app installed in your phone. Set Default Apps in AndroidAndroid 12 lets you set a few specific default apps like browser, call redirecting, caller ID & spam, etc. However, you can only set default apps only for the listed categories and not for all file types as you can do with Windows or Mac computer. Follow the instructions to set default apps in Android. Note that the instruction is from Google Pixel 3a phone and the menus may vary depending up on your phone’s model.
Default App CategoriesIn the below section, we will show how to setup default app for each available option. 1. Browser AppOnce you tap this, it will display the list of installed browsers on your Android phone. In our case, you can see Chrome and Firefox as shown in the below picture. You can set the default browser to use with all your future internet browsing. Note that you can choose certain links to directly open in another app instead of browser window as explained at the end of this article under “Open links” section.  2. Call Redirecting AppYou can set the default call diverting app to forward outgoing calls to another phone number. You can either set “None” or choose the default apps from the list. 3. Caller ID & Spam appOnce again, you can choose a default app to identify calls and block spam, robocalls, or unwanted numbers. This is useful when you have installed and caller ID app which you can assign here. 4. Digital Assistant AppYou can choose your default digital assistant app like Google, Firefox, none, etc. Google Assist as a digital assistant app can help you to read the text from the screen, use screenshots and follow voice commands. 5. Home AppYou can select a default launcher app by tapping on “Home app”. A launcher app is an app that replaces the home screen of your Android device and gives you more customized features on the home screen. When you have multiple launcher apps, you can change the default association here to change appearance of your phone. 6. Phone AppUsing this option, you can select a default phone app for making and receiving calls in your Android device. If you have installed third-party calling apps, you will see a list of them here and you can choose the default app. Otherwise, you will only see the system’s default phone app. 7. SMS AppSimilar to phone app, you can choose the default SMS app under this section. The selected app will use your phone number to send and receive short messages, photos, videos, and more. 8. Opening LinksAs mentioned above, you can open certain links in specific app instead of using the default browser under this section. If you anytime used iPhone, you would have noticed the Safari browser will automatically ask you to open certain links in the app instead of trying to open the page. Facebook links are the best examples, whenever you link any Facebook related links in emails or apps, it will go to Safari. However, Safari will ask you whether you want to open the link in Facebook if you have Facebook app installed on your iPhone. You can get a similar feature in Android using “Opening links” with two options. Opening Links with Installed Apps
Opening Links with Instant Apps This is a cool option which you can use to open the links with app even though the relevant apps are not installed on your phone. For example, you may want to open PDF file in PDF reader but not installed any related apps in your phone. In such a case, enabling this option will show a list of PDF reader apps available for your Google account. You can choose any of the available app to read the file. However, the app will be removed when you close the file. In this way, you can still read PDF files in your favorite reader without installing the app in your phone. Final WordsThe above categories will cover basic type of file types and set default apps for them. Unfortunately, you cannot set the default apps for any other file types with the most recent Android 12. You may try third-party apps like Better Open With to check if that fulfills your needs. Remember, you can anytime change the default association by following the same procedure as explained above and selecting different app. How do I change the default application for a file type?Change default programs in Windows. Select Start > Settings > Apps > Default apps.. To change the default app, you can do either of the following: Set a default for a file type or link type. In the search bar, enter the file type or link type you want, then select it from the list of results.. How do you change always open files of this type Android?For example, if you select the PDF Viewer app, you can undo that choice by following these steps:. Open the Settings app.. Choose Apps & Notifications. ... . Choose App info. ... . Choose the app that always opens. ... . On the app's screen, choose Open by Default or Set as Default. ... . Tap the CLEAR DEFAULTS button.. How do I remove a default app for a file type?How to Modify Default Apps / Default Programs by File Type in Settings. Open Settings. Press the “Start” button, then click the settings cog, above the power button. ... . Click 'Apps'. Click 'Default apps' in the sidebar, then 'Choose default apps by file type' ... . Select a file type and app from the list.. How do I associate a file type with an Android app?Open File Manager and browse the the folder containing the files that you want to associate with a particular app. This will set the target file types to be opened with the selected app and open that file in that app as well. By the way doing things in Android is not too difficult.
|
