# How to use the Opus image viewer inside or outside of Opus **URL:** \ **Category:** Opus FAQs\ **Created:** [December 3, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/how-to-use-the-opus-image-viewer-inside-or-outside-of-opus/1326 "2005-12-03T22:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/user_avatar/resource.dopus.com/leo/32/69732_2.png) [@Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/u/Leo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/how-to-use-the-opus-image-viewer-inside-or-outside-of-opus/1326/1 "2005-12-03T22:08:34Z")
**See Also:** [How to stop the Opus image viewer from being used by default](https://resource.dopus.com/t/how-to-stop-the-opus-image-viewer-from-being-used-by-default/1366) to do the opposite to this FAQ. ### Inside of Opus If you're a fan of the image viewer that's built into Directory Opus then it's trivial to make Opus use the viewer when you double-click on files within an Opus window: - **Preferences - File Operations - Double-click on Files: Use internal image viewer...** This only affects what happens inside of Opus. When you double-click an image file on your desktop or launch an image from another program, you'll probably still find it opens in the stock Windows picture viewer or some other viewer. Read on... This ties in to the **Images** file type group, found under **Settings \> File Types**. If the Opus viewer is configured to open on double-click, the extensions present in that file type group decide which types open in it. ### Outside of Opus If you would like Opus to take over all image-viewing duties on your system, not just within Opus itself, then we recommend using the standard Windows **Open With** menu. Follow these steps to associate the Opus viewer with an image file type. # Windows 8, Windows 10, and above - Right-click an image to open its context menu and find the **Open With** sub-menu. (If you don't see an Open With menu, close the context menu and then right-click the image again while holding the **Shift** key.) - At the bottom of the Open With menu there should be an item called **Choose Default Program** , or similar. Select it. - Turn on the **Always use this app to open _.xyz_ files** checkbox near the bottom. - If **D8Viewer** is already listed, select it. - Otherwise: Repeat the steps for any other file types you want to associate with the Opus viewer. If it doesn't work and you are using Windows 10, see the note above. # Windows 7, and earlier - Right-click an image to open its context menu and find the **Open With** sub-menu. (If you don't see an Open With menu, close the context menu and then right-click the image again while holding the **Shift** key.) - At the bottom of the Open With menu there should be an item called **Choose Default Program** , or similar. Select it. - Turn on the **Always use the selected program to open this kind of file** checkbox near the bottom. - If **D8Viewer** is already listed, select it. (It should be listed if you have done this for another image type before, but may not be when you do the very first type.) - Click **OK**. Repeat the steps for any other file types you want to associate with the Opus viewer. --- _[View the full topic](https://resource.dopus.com/t/how-to-use-the-opus-image-viewer-inside-or-outside-of-opus/1326)._