How to Retrieve Lost Windows 7 Paint Program

Last Updated: June 4, 2020

So maybe you had an incident where the paint program, no matter where you looked, didn't appear. You tried the search bar, you tried the programs, but somehow, it's just not there. Well, here's a way to get it back!

Steps

1
Go to Start
2
Click 'Default Programs'. It is to the right, second one from the bottom
3
Click 'Set your default settings'
4
In the program bar, click 'Paint'. If it is not there, then you are out of luck.
5
Click 'Set this program as default'
6
Download an image or find it in your 'Pictures' folder
7
Right click and click 'Open With...'
8
Find Paint and click it
9
The paint program will come up. Optional: Pin it to your desktop

Community Q&A

Question

When I click, "default programs," it says, "explorer.exe application not found." What can I do?

Community Answer

Open the task manager and click, "run new task," at the top left. Then, type, "explorer.exe," and pin the explorer you just opened to the task bar.
Question

I dont have default settings because I am at a library. What should I do?

Arrogance

Top Answerer

Do not attempt to alter a computer system that does not belong to you. Ask the librarian or someone in the library's technical department to install Paint for you.
Question

When I open ''Google Chrome (all programs)'' in the desktop screen, it says, "C:\user\public\desktop\googlechrome.lnk. Paint cannot read this file. This is not a valid bitmap file or ..." What can I do?

Community Answer

.lnk files are not images and therefore cannot be opened in Paint. .lnk files are shortcuts.