How to Change IE Default View Source Editor from Notepad to Other Text Editors

When clicking on View Source at Internet Explorer, by default it will be opened with notepad. Notepad may not be a good viewer to see since it is just a plain text. If you would like to change the default editor from notepad to other text editor such as Front Page, here is a way for you to get it done easily.

There are 2 methods you can change the IE view source default viewer:

Method 1: Change the default viewer by using View Source Editor

1) Go to http://www.iconico.com/viewSourceEditor/ to download View Source Editor file.
2) No setup is required. Just run the exe file and it will pop up a window, displaying your current default viewer.
3) Change the default viewer by browsing to the new viewer location. You can launch this exe file at any time when you want to change the default viewer in future.

This software is compatible to run on windows 95/98/NT/2000/Me/XP.

Method 2: Change the registry key

1) Click Start -> Run, then type regedit.
2) Locate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->Software -> Microsoft -> Internet Explorer.
3) Create a sub key named as View Source Editor under Internet Explorer.
4) Create a sub key, named as Editor Name under View Source Editor.
5) Change Default value of Editor Name to D:\Tools\Notepad2\abc.exe (abc is an example of viewer name).

Alternatively, you can create the registry key file and execute it to create the sub keys as mentioned above. Copy the text as below to notepad and save it as default_viewer.reg. Double click on the registry file to execute it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\View Source Editor]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\View Source Editor\Editor Name]
@=”C:\\Program Files\\abc.exe”

Update: How to Change Default View Source Editor or HTML Source Code Viewer


This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 12:03 am and is filed under Tips & Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “How to Change IE Default View Source Editor from Notepad to Other Text Editors”

  1. How to Change Default View Source Editor (HTML Viewer) in IE8 » My Digital Life
    November 10th, 2009 02:50
    6

    [...] does provide an easy way to change the default HTML source code viewer. In fact, there are many ways to change the associated default HTML View Source editor or viewer. Just pick one of the preferred methods listed [...]

  2. grichard1956
    July 17th, 2009 00:45
    5

    I used Method 2. It worked wonderfully!

    Thanks for your help,

    Greg

  3. Rama
    June 15th, 2009 21:19
    4

    Thank you for the tip. It helped.

  4. Changing the default “View Source” application in IE | WebGyver Revisited
    April 20th, 2009 22:44
    3

    [...] blog editor at My Digital Life has a nice explanation of the process posted. Here’s a preview of what they have to [...]

  5. chs
    February 6th, 2009 23:21
    2

    thank you for the step by step input

  6. Peter
    November 16th, 2008 18:18
    1

    Just a little thank you for the info on how to change the default Text Viewer in IE !!
    It’s the little things that can drive you nuts (why does M$ not buy out the Textpad people and finally replace Notepad ?)

    Anyway, thanks for making my day :-)

    Cheers,

    Peter

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