Windows – Open With on multiple files

windows 10windows-explorer

I need to be able to open about 16 JPGs in Chrome all at once, without having to select each one and do Open With. When I select multiple files, the Open With option disappears. How do I make it available with multiple files selected?

Several answers so far have provided decent workarounds, but they're not very flexible when I work on a large variety of files where Open With would be useful. Is there a way to actually do Open With on multiple files?

For anyone coming here in the future, I don't believe there's any proper workaround. If this matters a lot to you, I've created a feedback item in the Feedback Hub that you can upvote.

Best Answer

Save the below text to a text document name OpenWith.txt and then rename it to OpenWith.reg. You will next double-click to import the new registry settings. Now when you highlight all the applicable JPG files, the Open With option will be available, and it'll open all those with the Google Chrome app.

Create the Open With option when multiple JPG files are selected

Registry Settings to Import

You will need to point the below key's value that points to chrome.exe to the correct full path location on your system where the chrome.exe exists.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Open With\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe\" \"%1\""

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"MultipleInvokePromptMinimum"=dword:00000016

enter image description here

Further Resources, Notes, and Considerations

  • Microsoft KB2022295
  • Please note that per the above Registry Settings to Import section, you can name the registry key named "Open With" as "Open With Chrome" or whatever else you wish and it'll still do the same thing, open all the selected JPG files with Chrome.exe as per the other configuration. So just know that whatever you name that key, this is the text you'll see in place of Open With. enter image description here
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