Associating Project, Plan, Layout, and Library Files with the Preferred Version of Chief Architect or Home Designer

This article also applies to the following legacy products:
Pro | Architectural | Suite

QUESTION

When I open a project, plan, layout, or a library file, the version of the Chief Architect software program that launches is not the version that I want to use.

How can I change this file association so that when I open files, they open in my preferred program version?

ANSWER

If you have just installed a new version of Chief Architect or Home Designer, you may receive this message upon launching the software for the first time: 

• "#272032465 - Do you want to associate files with this program? You can always set this later in Preferences."

Select Yes to associate project, plan, layout, and library files with this version of the program, or select No if you want these files to be associated with the program version you last chose. 

If you're not receiving this prompt and files aren't opening correctly in the program version you would like to use, please follow the steps listed in this article.

To associate files with the preferred program version

1. Open the program version you'd like to associate these files to, then navigate to Edit> Preferences if you're on a Windows PC or Chief Architect/Home Designer> Preferences if you're on a Mac.
   
   
   
2. On the File Management panel of the Preferences dialog that displays:
   
   
   
   
   • Select the Associate Files With This Program button.
     
     
     Note: If this option is grayed out, project, plan, layout, and library files are already associated with this program version and nothing else needs to be done. 
     
     
   • If you're prompted with a window asking if you'd like to allow Chief Architect/Home Designer to make this change, choose Yes.
     
     
   • An Information dialog may appear stating: "Successfully associated file extensions with this program." Click OK. 
     
     
   • Click OK again to close the dialog completely.