How to Remove Programs from Open with Menu in Windows 11

On Windows, the Open with menu provides a convenient way to allow users to open selected files in other applications than the default associated application. Windows automatically adds programs to the Open with menu based on file associations, but it may contain some applications that you don't want to see. This article will show you how to remove the programs you don't want in the Open with menu.

Step 1. Open Registry Editor

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog. Type “regedit” and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

Note: Editing the registry can be risky and it is recommended that you backup Windows registry first. In case of problems, you can easily restore your computer's registry settings. You can use Wise Care 365 or Wise Registry Cleaner to make a backup.

Step 2. Navigate to the following path

ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerFileExts

Step 3. Remove programs from the Open with menu

• Expand the FileExts key and go to the key with the associated file extension where you want to delete the Open with menu item. 
• Expand the Extension key (such as .png) and click the OpenWithList subkey.
• On the right, right-click the value corresponding to the program you want to remove, and then select Delete to remove it from the Open with context menu.

• Repeat the above steps for the other applications that you want to remove from the Open with menu list.

Conclusion

The Open with menu provides us with a diversity of choices. Now you can organize the menu by removing unnecessary programs from the Open with menu, making it easier and faster to locate which way to open a file.