How to set a default app for opening files on iPhone or iPad

Like Finder on Mac, the Files app on iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 now lets you assign a default app for opening specific file types. Here’s how to make use of this handy feature.

iOS 26 lets you set a default app of your choice for opening PDFs, images, videos, audio, documents, and other items saved to the Apple Files app on your iPhone or iPad. This ensures that tapping items of that kind will always open in the chosen application where you want them to.

I regularly import photos from a thumb drive or SD card into the Files app on my iPhone or iPad. And then I open them in Snapseed for quick editing. So, I have set this third-party app as the default. If you use Photoshop Express, you can select that instead.

Similarly, I transfer a fair number of MP4, MKV, and AVI video files to my iPad and usually open them in the Infuse app, as it supports Picture-in-Picture. But for some reason, the Files app defaults to opening these videos in VLC. So, I have set them to always play in Infuse.

In addition to photos and videos, you can also set PDFs and other files to open in an app of your choice, such as Adobe Acrobat, Documents, Microsoft Word, etc.

What you need

• iPhone or iPad updated to the latest version of iOS 26 or iPadOS 26
• The app you want to set as the default must be installed on your device
• Update the app from the App Store

Important: Not all Apple or third-party apps can be set as the default. For instance, you can’t set the stock Photos app as the default to open JPG, PNG, or HEIF images in the Files app.

Set a default app for opening files on iPhone or iPad

1) Open the stock Files app on your device running iOS 26 or iPadOS and find the item type (i.e., JPG, PNG, MP4, PDF, MOV, AAC) for which you want to set a default app.

2) Touch and hold the file and tap Get Info.

3) Tap the selector next to “Always Open With” and select one of the supported apps for this file kind.

4) Tap “Always Open [format name] Files” to set this application as the default for this file format.

5) Next, for some file types such as images and PDFs, touch and hold the file again, select Open With, and uncheck Preview with Quick Look.

Going forward, when you tap those kinds of files (such as JPEG images) in the Files app, it will always open in the app you set as the default (Snapseed in my case).

Repeat the above steps for other file kinds/extensions.

Remember that if you’ve three kinds of image files (JPG, PNG, HEIF), you’ll have to set a default app separately for all three. Similarly, if you have many types of audio or video files, follow the steps for each kind individually.

Note:

• Even after setting a default app, you can touch and hold the file and use the Quick Look option to preview it right there in the Files app. And use the Open With option to open this file in another supported app.
• If you delete the default app, that file type will open in Apple’s own Preview app or an installed third-party app that iOS thinks is suitable to handle the task.

If you ever want to reverse this change, follow the above steps again and set another app as the default.

Also, check out:

• 18 settings to change and new features to try in iOS 26
• How to change the default app for opening specific file types on Mac

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/10/27/set-default-app-for-files-ios/