Version 11.0.1.0 installation fails to make this default application

[Shordy]

Version 11.0.1.0 installation does not make this default program for .pdf files when installing from command line with .msi file. I read here that this was supposed to be fixed on this version since there was some problems with version 11. I tried to search from online help manuals, but seems that sysadmin manuals seems to point to version 10. Version 10 installation works with no problems.

I have tried this with and without of SET_AS_DEFAULT="1" parameter with no luck. GUI installation seems to work, but it's not an option for updating this to thousand of our company computers.I have tried to install this on windows 11 23h2, 24h2 and 25h2 with same results.

Is this still a problem on installation package or do I do something wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

Best Regards,
Shordy

[Doukara]

Hi,
We currently have the same issue with 11.0.1 on 24h2 and 25h2 (No 23h2). Whatever we do, it rolls back to Edge as default.

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

Microsoft is doing their best to prevent anyone from changing the file associations for the .pdf, .htm, and .html extensions.
On our end, we are doing what we can to try and work around that, but unfortunately, it is not always possible.
The best workaround would be to manually set the Editor as the default for PDF files for each user. Assuming of course that our installer or the Editor itself failed to do so.
We understand that it is inconvenient, but MS seem to believe the PDF must be viewed in Edge only.

[Ticer]

Since Windows 10, Microsoft blocks apps from changing some protected file types like PDF. The recommended way is to create a default app association xml file and set it in registry.

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Thats a good source about this topic: https://woshub.com/managing-default-file-associations-in-windows-10/

[Doukara]

Microsoft is doing their best to prevent anyone from changing the file associations for the .pdf, .htm, and .html extensions.
On our end, we are doing what we can to try and work around that, but unfortunately, it is not always possible.
The best workaround would be to manually set the Editor as the default for PDF files for each user. Assuming of course that our installer or the Editor itself failed to do so.
We understand that it is inconvenient, but MS seem to believe the PDF must be viewed in Edge only.

Sorry, but I do not understand why it worked fine with 10.8 and suddenly stopped with v11. Like I said in my previous message, whatever we do, it will roll back to edge with the V11. Editor is set by default and will roll back to edge within hours. I do understand that Microsoft push to force Edge, but what do you have changed in your code in 10 vs. 11 that make that happen? We are currently rolling back to V10.8 and blocking autoupdated. Waiting for your reply and fix.

Also Adding,

There is no difference if we do a manual install, auto update or winget install.

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi Doukara,

I'm afraid the development team do not have anything more to add here, other than what was already outlined above - sorry we can't offer you any more clarification on this issue.

Kind regards,

[Renard63]

Hi,

We are currently experiencing the exact same issue in our environment.

After deploying version 11.0.1.0, the application fails to remain the default PDF handler. Even when we manually set it as default, it reverts back to Microsoft Edge after some time.

So far, the only reliable workaround we have found is to roll back to version 10.8.510 and block automatic updates.
Could you please clarify the following:

Are we expected to stay on version 10.8.510 indefinitely for this to work properly?
Is this a known issue that will be fixed in an upcoming patch?
Do you have any recommended enterprise-level workaround (GPO, XML association, etc.) that works reliably with version 11?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, as this is impacting large-scale deployments.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards,

[dPDFxler]

You changed the ProgID from PDFXEdit.PDF to PXCEditor.PDF
That is the whole Problem. That is not a Microsoft issue.

In Enterprise Infrastructure we configure the default app via XML and there we have to set the ProgID for specific Identifier.

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

Hi,

You changed the ProgID from PDFXEdit.PDF to PXCEditor.PDF

You are correct — changing the ProgID from PDFXEdit.PDF to PXCEditor.PDF is one of the changes introduced in version 11.
However, the issue we are all facing is that Windows is preventing the new ProgID from being properly registered, which blocks the association from being applied as intended.

This is a Windows‑side restriction, not a PDF‑XChange limitation, and it affects environments where the OS enforces stricter control over default app registration or retains cached associations from older versions.

Regards.

[dPDFxler]

Not exactly what I am meaning. We set the ProgID via Intune. So if you change something like a ProgID it would be grate to mention that in the Release Notes.

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

Noted. Thank you for your feedback.