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Suppose I am running cmd and I open an application by typing for example start document.pdf

I want to get the exact path of the executable that opens .pdf files

Of course I could search the entire system for the executable but I suppose it would be faster this way because the path is already stored somewhere

I don't know if it makes a difference but I am using Windows 7

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3 Answers 3

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Sadly the exe locations are usually defined in the registry for example. I have .txt defined as opening with "notepad++".

So to find what the association of the file is, I'd have to go to:

"Open Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Default Programs > Set Associations".

From there it'd show Notepad++ is my default program.

I'd then have to go to the registry for Notepad++ e.g.:

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Notepad++"

And see the complete file location there something like:

C:\Program Files\Notepad++

EDIT:

Every program you install typically has a registry associated with it, where it can be configured. Most programs details can be found in:

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node" (64 bit)
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\" (32 bit)

So you'd need to use regedit.exe to these locations, find your program and view the location of the exe

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  • Can you develop a bit more on the "go to the registry for Notepad++" part?
    – gsmafra
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 8:49
  • Edited the main post
    – Jay
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 8:54
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    Small observation: my program was not listed in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node so I ran the ctrl+f command to find it
    – gsmafra
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 9:23
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    It's not for certain - it's just the typical location. It can vary quite a bit.
    – Jay
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 9:26
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You can get this information using two command line tools: assoc and ftype:

help assoc
Displays or modifies file extension associations

help ftype
Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations

You can combine them to produce information you need:
for /f "delims== tokens=2" %a in ('assoc .pdf') do @ftype %a

Running this directly from command line should give you path and parameters of program registered for .pdf files

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5
  • 1
    Weirdly this doesn't give me the right program. See here, my standard .pdf program is Evince and your command is returning Acrobat Reader
    – gsmafra
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 9:19
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    @gsmafra You're right it seems that it does not always returns expected results, as discussed eg. here: superuser.com/questions/204354/… and here: superuser.com/questions/266268/…
    – wmz
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 9:44
  • I can run assoc and ftype from Command Prompt, but not from Powershell. Not sure why this is.
    – AJM
    Commented Mar 30, 2020 at 13:55
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    @AJM: assoc and ftype are intrinsic commands of cmd.exe, not separate exe's. So from Powershell, you must run them through cmd: cmd /c assoc
    – Jonathan
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 11:35
  • @Jonathan Thanks - didn't know that.
    – AJM
    Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 14:52
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I had the same problem, and the other solutions didn't work for me. But what did work is this:

  1. Open the program by opening a file with the approprate file extension.
  2. Go to task manager
  3. Expand the appropriate process tree (if required)
  4. Right-click on the program and click 'open file location'

This will bring you to the executable that is actually running the process.

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