Step-by-Step Guide: Launching Photoshop Instead of MS Paint Using the Right-Click ‘Edit’ Option in Windows

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could launch Adobe Photoshop instead of MS Paint when using the ‘Edit’ option after right-clicking an image in Windows? I know I have! In this guide, I will show you how to make this change effortlessly, so you can start editing your images with your preferred software in no time. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Locate the File Type Settings

To begin, I need you to open the ‘Control Panel’ on your Windows computer. You can access it by clicking on the ‘Start’ button and choosing ‘Control Panel’ from the menu that appears. Once you have the Control Panel open, look for the ‘File Explorer Options’ or ‘Folder Options’ icon and give it a click.

Step 2: Choose the File Type

Now, within the ‘Folder Options’ window, navigate to the ‘File Types’ or ‘File Associations’ tab. This tab will display a list of different file types and their default programs. What we want to do is locate the file type that represents the images you want to edit using Photoshop.

Step 3: Change the Default Program

Once you’ve found the file type for your images, select it from the list and click on the ‘Change’ or ‘Edit’ button. A new window will appear, showing you a list of recommended programs. Since we want to use Photoshop, you might have to click on the ‘Browse’ or ‘Choose’ button to manually locate the Photoshop application on your computer.

Step 4: Confirm the Change

After you have selected the Photoshop application, click on the ‘OK’ button to confirm your choice. You will then be taken back to the ‘Folder Options’ window, where you should see that the default program for the selected file type has been changed to Photoshop. Confirm this change by clicking ‘OK’ once more.

Step 5: Test it Out!

Now that you’ve made the necessary changes, it’s time to test out the ‘Edit’ option. Simply find an image file of the type you selected earlier, right-click on it, and choose ‘Edit’. You should see that Photoshop opens up instead of MS Paint, allowing you to unleash your creativity and edit your images with a powerful set of tools.

That’s it! You’ve successfully changed the default program for editing images using the right-click ‘Edit’ option in Windows. From now on, Photoshop will be your go-to program for all your image editing needs. Enjoy!

Like all modern operating systems, Windows lets you choose the default app for opening each file type. But sometimes, you may want to open a file with a different app without changing the default. Luckily, Windows has a handy “Open With” option in the right-click menu. Just right-click on a file, select “Open With,” and choose any compatible program to temporarily open the file.

Let’s take images as an example. By default, our Windows 10 PC opens image files in the “Photos” app. It’s quick and easy to view the images this way. But when we need to edit an image, we prefer using Adobe Photoshop. Instead of changing Photoshop as the default app for all image file types, which would slow down our image viewing, we can simply right-click on the desired image file and choose “Open With > Adobe Photoshop”.

Seems simple, right? Well, there’s one problem: the “Open With” menu doesn’t appear when you select multiple files. Microsoft, for some reason, doesn’t allow opening multiple files in a non-default app, even if they share the same file type.

But don’t worry, there’s a workaround. The “Edit” option in the right-click menu is always available, regardless of the number of selected files or their file types. However, the “Edit” option opens the images in MS Paint, which may not be the preferred editing software for most users.

Thankfully, there is a solution to this. You can change the application that opens when you select the “Edit” option, but it requires diving into the Windows Registry. Before you proceed, make sure you are familiar with the Registry and its basics for modification. Changing other things in the Registry without caution can cause permanent damage to your Windows installation and data. So, take care and make proper backups of important data before making any changes.

To get started, search for “regedit” in the Start Menu or Start Screen (Windows Vista through Windows 10) or go to “Start > Run” and type “regedit” (Windows XP). In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following location using the folder hierarchy on the left:

ComputerHKEY_CLASSES_ROOTSystemFileAssociationsimageshelleditcommand

Note that some folders, especially HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, have many entries. You can scroll through them or use the Registry search feature (“Edit > Find”) to quickly find the right key.

Now, you’ll see a single string on the right side of the window with the value “%systemroot%system32mspaint.exe” “%1”. This tells Windows to open MS Paint when you select the “Edit” option after right-clicking on an image file. To change this, double-click the registry string and replace the path inside the first set of parentheses in the “Value data” box.

Using our example, we’ll change the path to point to our local installation of Photoshop CC 2015, which is typically located at “C:Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop CC 2015Photoshop.exe”. You can find the installed location of your favorite app by right-clicking on its shortcut and choosing “Properties”. The path in the “Target” box is what you need to copy into the Registry string.

When copying the new path, make sure to keep the existing parentheses and don’t remove or modify the trailing “%1”. This is important for Windows to pass the selected image files to the designated application. In our example, the complete contents of the “Value Data” field would be:

“C:Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop CC 2015Photoshop.exe” “%1”

Hey there! No need to worry about rebooting or logging off after you make this change. Once you’ve done it, the new application will immediately take over as the “Edit” option in your right-click menu. Cool, right? To test it out, just go to your desktop or any location in Windows explorer, select a group of images, right-click, and choose Edit. As long as you’ve picked an application that works with image files, all your selected images will open in the new program. Easy peasy!

Now, if you ever want to change the Windows Edit application again in the future, no sweat. Just find the correct path for the application you want, go back to the Registry path we mentioned earlier, and follow the same process we explained. This time, though, you’ll be replacing your first custom choice for an image editing app with the new one. But wait, what if you want to set good ol’ MS Paint as the default again? Not a problem! Just put its original path back in place. Here it is for easy reference:

“%systemroot%\system32\mspaint.exe” “%1”

By changing the “Edit” application, I found a way to work around Windows’ pesky limitation on the “Open With” menu. It gives us the flexibility to open multiple images all at once in our favorite image editing app. It’s a bit of a bummer that Microsoft hasn’t expanded support for “Open With” like they have in OS X. This issue has been around since Windows 7, so it doesn’t seem likely that Microsoft will address it anytime soon. But don’t worry! This handy tweak to the “Edit” option should work just fine for most Windows users. Problem solved!