Windows 10 keeps changing my default programs

I didn't even call him a name - I said he was obtuse....and he is. 

First of all - he is NOT a Microsoft employee - there is no "Microsoft" by his name on his replies as you see when a real Microsoft employee responds.

Secondly - his logic that "if it is not occurring on his computer, then the problem does not exist" is EXACTLY why people hate computer support techs. It reminds me of when working desktop support at my previous job, my co-worker got a call from a user who was complaining that the network was "down." My co-worker said - I'm connected, so it can't be down. A simple 10 foot trek to the computer room would have told him that one of the switches was down. Our floor was okay, but the floor above was down. 

Point being, Sir Charles, if you are still reading the responses.....don't be so quick to say that it is not a problem, and that even if it were a problem - that it's not the fault of Microsoft. Microsoft has made PLENTY of mistakes in the past; and a simple error in the code would not surprise anyone (except you, of course.)

I opened this thread last summer at the height of my frustration with this issue - and found that I am not the only one with it - even though some "experts" say it's not an issue. Since that time, I found a solution that has resolved it for me. Tom (Hyperlogic), Stargateok, and others - I hope someone from Microsoft responds to this thread with some REAL troubleshooting for you. Good luck.

I agree, Windows and MS Office reached their peak in XP.  Since then it has just been a slow decline downhill.  They constantly keep changing things that were carefully designed with a GUI that considered usability, logic and efficiency.  They feel that they need to change things and make them look different so they can get people to buy the new version to keep their revenue stream going.  Unfortunately, when you needlessly change a product that is finished, you can only screw it up.

It takes twice as long to do things in Excel and Word as it did 5 years ago.  The whole ribbon menu system is the poster child for poor programming and the flagship of anti-user GUI development that we see so often today.  Instead of screwing up their existing programs, why don't they try developing something new.  When a building is finished, a designer moves on to a new building.

You are so obtuse. 

I am telling you the behavior on my computer - as is happening on others who have replied to this thread. When the effing icons change, the program changes. 

Forget about the .mp3s from WinZip for a moment. That was what I found to be the cause. Again - for the millionth time - i have not had the issue since I stopped using WinZip.

What you fail to realize is in your snarky responses is that the icons change; the default programs change; and the settings change.

A pdf icon will change to Edge; it will open with Edge; and the default program in setting will become Edge. Same with any video file that Microsoft has decided should be used with Movies and TV. I can go through all of my video files and change them to VLC viewer....and, again, if I extract mp3 files using WinZip - when they change, everything that I have changed from Microsoft's defaults will change.

[Mod Removed]

Of course I reinstalled Adobe Reader. Since the issue does not occur on my laptop, which has an older version of Adobe, I even tried that version. Issue still occurred.

If you read my subsequent post, you will note that I discovered the issue lies within WinZip - I receive multiple zip files with mp3 files. Those .mp3 files do not come with the newer default music player - "Groove Music" as their default player. So, when files are extracted, Windows changes their default player - and as a result, also changes every other file on the PC that is not using the Microsoft default - including changing pdf files to use Edge. I searched through the registry looking for something that would change the default file WITHIN WinZip, but could not find anything. I purchased WinRAR, and no longer have the issue. (Note - yes, I also tried changing the default music player back to Windows Media Player before changing to WinRAR, but that resets with every Windows update. So WinRAR solved it for me.)

So, now that my files are being extracted with WinRAR, nothing is "triggering" a change to my .pdf files. Sure, it's still an issue that Microsoft SHOULD fix, but at least I'm not having to reset my default files anymore.

Hi,

Since the issue persists after all possible troubleshooting, we suggest that you post this query to one of our advance support site on this link.

We alsoencourage you to submit your issues using the Feedback Hub. You can either vote on an existing submission or submit a new issue. When you submit a feedback item we gather additional details and information about your issue that will help determine what's causing it and address it. Feedback items regularly receive Microsoft responses on the submission in the Feedback app so you can see what we are doing about your feedback. Please revisit frequently to see the status of your feedback items. 

In order to send new feedback, please follow these steps:

1. On a Windows 10 device, search for "Feedback Hub" in Cortana search, then launch the app.
2. Navigate to Feedback in the left menu, then press + Add new feedback.
3. Select the Problem, and share any details you think are relevant, and choose an appropriate category and  subcategory.
4. Important: If possible, reproduce the problem(s) after clicking Begin monitoring (or Start capture) near the end of the form; Stop monitoring when you're done.
5. Once you've completed the form and monitoring, click Submit.
6. Click Continue using Feedback Hub.

7 Click My feedback at the top, then find the item you submitted (it may take a while to appear).

8. Open the item you submitted, then click Share.
9. Click Copy link, then paste the link here in your response (it will look like https://aka.ms/<unique link>)

Regards.