This article will help you configure file association on Kubuntu. File association, also known as "Open With", is the configuration that determines what application opens what file type, such as PDF should be opened with PDF reader, MP3 should be opened by MP3 player and so on. Every system has its own file associations. When you have many applications and choices, you might need to change such association so your favorite file type can be opened by default with your favorite application. We will show you it is easy to do on Kubuntu 22.04 "Jammy Jellyfish". Now let's start it out!

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Example 1: Documents (PDF, Writer, Calc, Impress, ...)

1. Run Dolphin file manager.

2. Navigate to where you store PDF files.

3. Right-click a PDF -> Properties -> Open With: Change... 

4. In the Edit File Type Association, you will see list of applications available on your system for opening PDF, for example:

• Okular
• Firefox
• PDF Arranger 
• [...]

The top in this listing is the default application.

5. Select one and click Move Up -> make it to the top of the list -> OK -> OK.

6. Do steps 1-5 for any other document formats including ODT, ODS, ODP, etc. 

 (An example of configuration: a PDF being opened with Okular)

Example 2: Pictures (PNG, JPEG, SVG, ...)

1. Run Dolphin.

2. Navigate to where you store PNG pictures.

3. Right-click a PNG -> Properties -> click Change...

4. On the Edit File Type Association, you will see list of applications available on your system for opening PNG pictures, for example:

• Gwenview
• GIMP
• Shutter
• Pinta
• [...]

The top in this list is the default application. 

5. Select one and click Move Up -> make it to the top of the list -> OK -> OK. 

6. Do steps 1-5 for any other picture format including JPEG, TIFF, BMP, ICO, SVG, XCF, EPS, etc.

Example 3: Audio Video Files (MP3, MP4, OGG, MKV, ...)

1. Run Dolphin.

2. Go to where you store MP3 audio files.

3. Right-click an MP3 -> Properties -> Open With: Change...

4. On the Edit File Type Association, you will see list of applications available on your system for opening PNG pictures, for example:

• Amarok
• Elisa
• MPV
• VLC
•  [...]

The top in this list is the default application.

5. Select one and click Move Up -> make it to the top of the list -> OK -> OK. 

6. Do steps 1-5 for any other audio and video file formats including MP4, OGG, OGV, FLAC, etc.

Temporary Method

Aside from changing it permanently/persistently like in above, you can instead open a file temporarily with another application. To do this, you should know beforehand what application to open what file type, or, what command line

1. Run Dolphin.

2. Navigate to where you store a file type, let's say, PDF. 

3. Right-click the PDF -> Open With -> a list will show -> select one -> Done. 

3. If you do not want any of the offered application, click Other Application...

4. Select an application from the Choose Application listing -> Done.

See picture below: an example of opening PDF with Scribus (Page Layout Application) instead of PDF reader.

5. If you do not find/want any of them, type a suitable command line for this type of file, for example, to open PDF for editing in LibreOffice Draw:

libreoffice --draw

See picture below: an example of opening PDF in LibreOffice Draw (a PDF editor) instead of normal PDF reader.

6. Press Enter -> Done. 

7. Repeat steps 1-6 if you want to open any file type with any other application or command line.

Doing this will not change default file association. 

Alternative Method

Aside from using right-click, actually you can configure the same thing on the System Settings. To do this, you must know the filetype name such as ODT for LibreOffice Writer document and MP4 for MPEG 4 video.

1. Run System Settings. 

2. Go to Personalization -> File Associations.

3. Type desired file format in the search box. For example, MP4. 

4. Select the result, in this example, MP4, and the configuration will show. You see, this configuration is the same as what you saw with right-click -> Properties.

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See Also

How To Change File Association on Ubuntu GNOME

How To Switch Menu Mode on Kubuntu 

How To Adjust Low Battery Warning on Kubuntu