Set as Default Version in PowerPoint 2019 for Windows

At times, you may want to change your default version of PowerPoint. This decision can be important for you if you have multiple versions of PowerPoint installed on your system. Typically the last version installed is the default version, but there are other ways to change the defaults, and all of them do not work all the time! Let us explore some options if you want to set PowerPoint 2019 for Windows as your default version:

1. Firstly, you can modify the default version by right-clicking any PowerPoint file. Then choose the Open with option in the resultant contextual menu, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1.
2. 
   Figure 1: Open with option lets you choose the default PowerPoint version
3. You may see a submenu when you click the Open With option, or you may see the dialog box, shown in Figure 2, below. This dialog box will let you select from any available program, or even click the More apps option, highlighted in red within Figure 2. The latter option will let you even browse to, and choose the PowerPoint version that you want to launch when you double-click a PowerPoint file.
4. 
   Figure 2: How do you want to open this file?
2. You can change the default version by peeking inside your Registry. Here is a link to a post called Register the Default Version of PowerPoint. Remember that anything to do with the Registry must be done with caution. It is good to have a backup of your complete system in place, just in case.
3. You can bring up the list of programs on your computer by typing appwiz.cpl in the Run dialog box, and then hitting the Enter key. Once you select the version of Microsoft Office you want to be the default, you will find an option called Change (highlighted in red within Figure 3). Click the Change option.
4. 
   Figure 3: Change option to be selected
5. This will bring up the window that you can see in Figure 4, below. Here select the Quick Repair radio button that you can see highlighted in red within Figure 4. Then, click the Repair button, highlighted in blue within Figure 4.
6. 
   Figure 4: How would you like to repair your Office programs?
7. This repairs the installation and also sets the selected version as the default one.
4. This is probably the easiest way. If you want to make PowerPoint 2019 the default version, just launch Word 2019. Word might take a while to launch, and then you can close Word. PowerPoint 2019 automatically becomes the default version. This trick has also worked in the past with older PowerPoint versions.