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Set-RDFileTypeAssociation

Changes the file type association of a RemoteApp program in a Remote Desktop deployment.

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Last verified: 2026-10-26

Microsoft RemoteDesktop reference: Changes the file type association of a RemoteApp program in a Remote Desktop deployment. The syntax and selected example below are adapted from the pinned Windows Server 2025 reference. Module availability, target configuration and delegated permissions determine whether it can run in your environment. Documentation and parameter text: Microsoft, CC BY 4.0; formatting adapted by Cmdlet World. No execution testing is claimed.

Set-RDFileTypeAssociation [-CollectionName] <String> -AppAlias <String> -FileExtension <String>
 -IsPublished <Boolean> [-IconPath <String>] [-IconIndex <String>] -VirtualDesktopName <String>
 [-ConnectionBroker <String>] [<CommonParameters>]

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Required permissions

Use an account with the target resource permissions documented for Set-RDFileTypeAssociation. Modifying administrative cmdlets may require elevation or delegated administration. This catalog does not assert that ordinary users can execute the command.

Supported environments

Windows / RemoteDesktop · Windows Server 2025 documentation; feature/module prerequisites apply

Parameters

-AppAlias (required): Specifies the alias for the RemoteApp program. The default alias is the program's file name without the extension.
-CollectionName (required): Specifies the name of the session or virtual desktop collection.
-ConnectionBroker: Specifies the Remote Desktop Connection Broker (RD Connection Broker) server for this Remote Desktop deployment. Remote users connect to this server to obtain views of available nextref_server_7 RemoteApp programs, session-based desktops, and virtual desktops. If this parameter does not appear, the default value is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the local host.
-FileExtension (required): Specifies the file name extension of the file type whose association you change.
-IconIndex: Specifies the index in the icon file for the RemoteApp program icon. The IconPath parameter specifies the icon file.
-IconPath: Specifies the path to a file containing the icon to display for the RemoteApp program identified by the Alias parameter. This path must not contain any environment variables. For session collections, the path must be a valid local path on all RD Session Host servers in the collection. For virtual desktop collections, the path must be a valid local path on all virtual desktops in the collection.
-IsPublished (required): Indicates whether users can see the file type association. Set this parameter to $True if users need to open the RemoteApp that corresponds to a file type by double-clicking a file of that type. Set this parameter to $False if you do not want to associate files of a particular type with a RemoteApp program on end users' machines. For example, if you have published Microsoft Word as a RemoteApp, but you want end users to open .docx files in local copies of Wordpad rather than in the RemoteApp Word, set IsPublished to $False in the file type association for .docx files.
-VirtualDesktopName (required): Specifies the name of the virtual desktop where the icon file whose name is in the IconPath parameter appears. This virtual desktop must belong to the collection whose value is in the CollectionName parameter.

Prerequisites

Windows with the RemoteDesktop module and the Windows feature or management tools that provide it. Confirm target connectivity and version compatibility using the linked Microsoft reference.

Security considerations

This cmdlet changes system state. Review every target and parameter in the official reference, test outside production, and prepare an appropriate backup or rollback. Do not execute the example automatically.

Examples

Example 1: Set a file type association for a virtual desktop collection

Set-RDFileTypeAssociation -CollectionName "Virtual Desktop Collection" -AppAlias "iexplore" -FileExtension ".html" -IsPublished $True -VirtualDesktopName "RDS-WKS-A27"

This command sets the following options for file type association: - Collection named Virtual Desktop Collection. - Remote Desktop application alias of iexplore. - File name extension of .html to associate with the application. - Virtual desktop named RDS-WKS-A27. - Users can see the file name extension. Source: Microsoft, CC BY 4.0; transcript prompt/output removed. This example was not executed.

Sources

https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/windows-powershell-docs/blob/b7645dd8c687139b28e845119da30ec670526507/docset/winserver2025-ps/RemoteDesktop/Set-RDFileTypeAssociation.md

https://learn.microsoft.com/powershell/module/remotedesktop/set-rdfiletypeassociation?view=windowsserver2025-ps

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