To make Winamp the default player for one or more supported file formats under Windows 7:

• Open the Options menu and click Preferences (Ctrl+P). Winamp displays the Preferences dialog.
• Within the General Preferences section of Preferences, click File Types. You may have to double-click General Preferences if you don't see File Types listed.
• Select the file types you want to be associated with Winamp. You can also click All to use Winamp as the default player for all supported file types.
• To make sure that Winamp keeps the file associations you assign, select Restore file associations at Winamp start-up. Whenever you start Winamp, the selections you've made in the File Types preferences will be checked and reassigned.
• Select Launch Winamp for audio CDs to use Winamp as the default CD player for your PC. When you insert CDs into the CD-ROM drive, Winamp will launch and play the CD.
• Close the Preferences dialog
• Say "Yes" to any UAC prompt from Windows for changes to be applied (Windows Vista/7)

To remove associations, deselect the relevant file types from the list.

To make Winamp the default player for one or more supported file formats under Windows 8:

• Go to: Windows Control Panel > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program
• Select the relevant file type, eg. .mp3
• Click the Change Program button
• Select Winamp from the list

To remove associations, select a different program from the list.

To make Winamp the default player for one or more supported file formats under Windows 10 & 11:

• Go to: Windows Control Panel > Apps > Default apps
• Scroll down and select "Set defaults by app"
• Scroll down to Winamp and click "Manage"
• Click an icon next to a file type and change it to Winamp