Double-clicking an Office file fails to open it in the correct Office program

When you try to open an Excel workbook, a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation with Excel, Word, or PowerPoint, the following errors may occur:

• The file doesn’t open in the expected application. For instance, an Excel workbook doesn’t open in Excel 2019; instead, it opens in another app or an older version of Excel.
• An error indicating a file association problem may occur. For instance, you may get an error similar to “This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. please install a program or if one is already installed create an associate in the default programs control panel"

Note: If you've tried to open an Excel workbook but instead Excel only opens a blank screen see: Excel 2016 opens to a blank screen.

Run a Quick Repair to fix the file association problem

1. Click the Start button

Note: If you're using Windows 7, just click Start > Control Panel then you can skip to step 3, below.

For more information about the repair option in Office, go to Repair an Office application.

If that doesn't resolve the issue try manually associating the files to the correct app.

1. Click the Start button

Note: If you're using Windows 7, just click Start > Control Panel then you can skip to step 3, below.

Tip: You may want to repeat this process for the other Office apps while you're here.

If you have multiple versions of Microsoft Office.

Consider uninstalling the versions you don't need. To do that:

Click the Start button

Note: If you're using Windows 7, just click Start > Control Panel then you can skip to step 3, below.

Having too many versions of Office on your computer can cause issues, including files opening in the wrong version of Office.

Tip: In some cases you'll get your best result by uninstalling ALL versions of Office, then reinstalling just the version you want.

If all else fails..

You should still be able to open your file by opening the application first, then opening the file from there. To do that:

1. Start the program needed to access your document; Word, Excel or PowerPoint
2. When the program opens, click File >Open, find your file in the file navigator and open it.

Still have a question about Office?

Visit the Microsoft Answers Community to see questions and answers posted by others or get answers to your own questions.

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This article was last updated by Ben on May 9th, 2019 in response to your feedback. If you found it helpful, and especially if you didn't, please use the feedback controls below and leave us some constructive feedback so we can continue to make it better.