How do I specify which App should be used to open a (MS Word) file that I have in my FILES App on my iPad Pro 12,9 with OS 15.4? When I select OPEN from the context menu in the FILES, it opens in the PocketBook App (a reader that I had to install for a book that I bought !!! 😡🤬😡). I want to open MS Word files in PAGES, but there is no “Open with …” option in the context menu.
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Heinz Fruehwirth
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How To Specify Standard App for Opening Files On iPad?
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There's no way to set a default app for a file in iPadOS. But you can use at least two methods to open a file in any app you want.
The first is to simply open the app first. Then use the app's Document chooser to select the file. In Word for iPad, I see there is a little folder icon on the left at the top level. Selecting that will show my files on my iPad or in iCloud Drive, and other storage locations.
The second is to drag-and-drop. From the Files app, start dragging the file. If the app is in your Dock, then it is easy to drag it there. Otherwise, you can continue to drag, switch to the Home Screen, and find the app there and drop it on it. You can even bring up the app switcher while dragging too.
I tried these two methods with Microsoft Word and the first one works. For some reason the second one does not. Looks like Word isn't recognizing that it can open its own files. So stick with the first option. Maybe the same deficiency in the Word app is what is causing your problem in the first place.
Thanks Gary,
I knew that opening the file from my preferred app (Pages; don't want to buy MS Office) works. Dragging it from the Files App into the Pages icon in the Dock works too. This does however not open the file, just drops it into the folder that happens to be open in Pages. From there it can be moved to the correct location and opened and edited in Pages.
It is however still annoying that dragging the file to one of the edges of the screen still would open the bloody PocketBook App.
It took me a while to figure that out.
In the files app you can use the share button and chose the standard app you like for that file type.
From now on everytime you open that same file type, it will be opened in that app you chose.