# MS WordPad **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-wordpad/764439 "2016-08-29T22:58:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-wordpad/764439/1 "2016-08-29T22:58:04Z")
How can I prevent p.o.s. MS WordPad from taking over my MS Word docs when I open them? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-wordpad/764439/2 "2016-08-29T23:01:12Z")
Using Windows 7: [ol] [li]Start[/li][li]Control Panel[/li][li]Default Programs[/li][li]Set your default programs[/li][/ol] I don’t use Windows 10 so I cannot offer specifics. Probably similar though. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-wordpad/764439/3 "2016-08-29T23:06:25Z")
Right click on a Word doc, select “Open With…”, select Word, and tick the option that says something along the lines of “Always open with this” ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-wordpad/764439/4 "2016-08-29T23:26:21Z")
Thanks. (It’s on my W7 laptop.)