Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

.docx attachments open with winzip instead of word

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by PattiWagen

more options

This started happening today. I tried to open a .docx attachement and it opened with winzip. I checked the default programs in Windows docx files opens with word. I changed the attachment part of thinderbird, and make all docx files open with word. I restarted thunderbird. The .docx file still opens with winzip. I can't find any way to inquire with winzip. maybe I will have to ininstall it.

This started happening today. I tried to open a .docx attachement and it opened with winzip. I checked the default programs in Windows docx files opens with word. I changed the attachment part of thinderbird, and make all docx files open with word. I restarted thunderbird. The .docx file still opens with winzip. I can't find any way to inquire with winzip. maybe I will have to ininstall it.

Chosen solution

Yay! I couldn't find help/troubleshooting open folder, so I went to appdata/roaming/thunderbird/profiles/xxxxxxxxxxx.default and found handlers.json . Sure enough there was winzip so I renamed the file. When I restarted thunderbird, I could not find winword in the list of options. I finally found it in c:\program files\microsoft office\root\office16\winword.exe and that was installed 2/15/20. It looks like this is a windows problem. I paid for automatic updates for office, and when it upgraded itself from office 15 to office 16, it did not tell the other apps about the directory change from office15 to office16. Thanks for your help. It took a bit of sleuthing, but I fixed it.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (2)

more options

Help/Troubleshooting, click Open Folder to open the profile folder, close TB. Open handlers.json in a text editor and search for winzip. If for some reason it's found, rename handlers.json, restart TB, open a docx attachment, and define the helper app as Word. Instead of choosing from the list, click Other.. and Browse to winword.exe.

more options

Chosen Solution

Yay! I couldn't find help/troubleshooting open folder, so I went to appdata/roaming/thunderbird/profiles/xxxxxxxxxxx.default and found handlers.json . Sure enough there was winzip so I renamed the file. When I restarted thunderbird, I could not find winword in the list of options. I finally found it in c:\program files\microsoft office\root\office16\winword.exe and that was installed 2/15/20. It looks like this is a windows problem. I paid for automatic updates for office, and when it upgraded itself from office 15 to office 16, it did not tell the other apps about the directory change from office15 to office16. Thanks for your help. It took a bit of sleuthing, but I fixed it.