Why are my .txt files printed when I double-click them?

Question

My Text files (.txt) are not opening. Instead, they are printing as the default command when I double-click on any file.

I realized that the print command is default now and open is not the default command.

How do i change it back?

Answer 1

Open up a folder and then go to the menu:

Tools > Folder Options > File Types

Go down to the TXT extension and then click the Advanced button for the Edit File Type dialog:

If you are missing the open action

To create a new open action, take the following steps:

1. Click New. A New Action dialog will pop up
2. For Action, enter open
3. For Application used to perform action, enter "C:\WINDOWS\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE %1"
4. Click OK

(Adjust the program file path as necessary if you prefer opening with another text editor.)

In the Edit File Type dialog:

• Select open under the Actions list
• Click Set Default
• Click OK
• Close out the Folder Options

This should now set back the default action of double-clicking on a .txt to open instead of printing.

Answer 2

You cloud try to right-click on it in a Windows explorer and check if the popup menu entry "right click on it" is there.

If it is, you should then be able to select a program, use Notepad and select "always use this".

Otherwise, there are some ways to restore default association in Windows XP