How to Set a Portable App as Default Software in Windows 10 & 11

Portable apps are never properly installed onto Windows, so there's no way to set them as a default app, right? Wrong. Here's how.

A portable app is one you can utilize in Windows without installing it. Such apps don’t come with installers, and you can run them from USB drives. You can download more than 400 hundred portable apps from PortableApps.com.

As portable apps aren’t installed, they don’t get registered on the operating system properly. You can’t select to set unregistered portable apps to be the default software in Settings. However, you can still configure portable apps to be your default software for opening file formats with the methods in this guide.

How to Set a Portable App as Default Software From the File Properties Window

The usual way to set a default program is to select file formats it opens with via Settings. However, you can also select the default programs for opening file formats via the properties window for them. That window includes an Open with option you can change to set an unregistered portable app to be the default software a file format opens with. This is how you can select a portable app to be a file format’s default program from the properties window:

1. Open Explorer from the taskbar (it has a folder library icon).
2. Navigate to a folder that includes a file your portable app can open.
3. Right-click a file to open with your portable app and select Properties.
   
4. The General tab on the properties window that opens shows the file format for which you’re setting the portable app to be the default software. Click the Change button there.
   
5. Click More apps to expand the list of software with which you can open the file format. Select your portable app if you can see it there.
   
6. If the required portable software isn’t listed there, click the Look for another app on this PC option.
7. Find and select the portable app you want to be the default software for the file format in the Open with window.
8. Click the Open button.
9. Now the properties window will show your selected portable app is the default software for the file format to open with. Press the Apply option to save.
10. Select OK to exit the file properties window.

Double-click the file you just changed the default software for. Now it will open with whatever portable app you selected. All files of the same format will open with that portable program by default.

How to Register a Portable App as Default Software With Portable Registrator

To set a portable app as default software via Settings, you’ll need to register it. You can do that with Portable Registrator. Portable Registrator is freeware software that enables you to register portable applications in Windows 11/10/8/7. These are the steps for registering apps with Portable Registrator:

1. Open the Portable Registrator page on Softpedia.
2. Select the Download Now and Softpedia Secure Download (US) options there.
3. Open the folder that includes the PortableRegistrator.exe file in Explorer.
4. Double-click the PortableRegistrator.exe file.
5. If you see a SmartScreen warning, click More info to select Run anyway.
6. Click the ellipsis button for the Portable executable box.
   
7. Select the portable app you want to register and click Open.
8. Then click the Program type drop-down menu to select what type of software it is.
9. Press the Register button to finish.

Portable Registrator only includes Web-Browser and Mail-Program type options to select for portable browsers and email client software packages. However, you can add more program types by editing Portable Registrator’s configuration file. You can open that file by clicking the Config button and selecting Notepad. The Portable Registrator instruction page provides further details about how you can add new program types by editing that file.

Make a Portable App Default Software in Settings

When you’ve registered a portable app, you can set it to be the default software for certain file formats within Settings. The Default apps section of Windows 11’s Settings app includes options with which you can configure your default software. This is how to select registered portable applications to be default software packages.

1. Click the Start menu’s Settings shortcut.
2. Next, select the Apps tab.
3. Click Default apps to view a list of apps you can set as the default software for opening files. You should see your registered portable app there now.
   
4. Click your portable application there to view its file formats.
   
5. Select a file format there, and then choose the portable app to be the default software for it.
6. Click OK to save changes.
7. You can select a general Set default option for some types of software. Click that option to more generally set a portable application to be the default software for its associated file formats.

Open More of Your Files With Portable Apps

Setting your portable applications as default software will enable you to make the most of them. Your portable apps will automatically start whenever you click to open file formats you’ve set them to be the default software for. That will save you from having to manually launch the portable programs and select to open files in them.