How to customise the Recommended Programs list when choosing what to open a file with?

Question

How can I change what applications are listed in the Recommended Programs list below? I checked the various options in Control Panel > Default Programs, but none appear to allow me to affect this specific list.

I'm asking because the recommended programs appear in the Open With... context menu in Windows Explorer and it's getting pretty long (and in this case, contains completely random items like Steam. Why would I want to open a .png file in Steam?!)

Answer 1

Read this post about how to do it

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/11/05/how-to-unassociate-remove-or-delete-programs-from-open-with-or-recommended-programs-list/

It should help with what you need to be done.

Answer 2

The steps described in in this Microsoft knowledge base article may help.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

The programs on the Open With list for each file type are independent of that file's registered program(s). To remove items from this list, locate the following registry key within regedit

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\FileExts\.extension\OpenWithList

where extension is the file extension for the file type whose Open With list you want to modify. Delete the value in this key that represents the program to be removed from the Open With list.

NOTE: The above registry key is one path, it has been wrapped for readability.

Answer 3

You can use Default Programs Editor to customize the 'Open with...' list.

Open the app, and go to File Type Settings, then click this link:

Select the file extension you're trying to change, .png in this case, then click next:

From that screen you can add/remove what shows up on that file type's 'Open with...' list.