Newbie Question re: Opening files in Cura

[optionstan 0]

I have Cura 5.6.0 installed on my Window 11 computer. When I download a file from Thingiverse and then double click on it, it blinks but doesn't open up Cura. I think it's some basic, but I can't figure it out. Please help so I can start printing! Thank you.

Edited March 15 by Slashee_the_Cow
Changed title to be more descriptive

[Slashee_the_Cow 272]

Cura doesn't set itself to be the default handler for STL files. To open a file in Cura the easiest way is just to open Cura then drag & drop your STL file into it. In Cura you can also go to File > Open File(s) on the menu bar and navigate to your file.

 

BTW: Don't mind me, but I'm going to change the title of the thread to be a bit more descriptive to help people find it.

[DivingDuck 104]

You can setup Windows opening a specific program / app associated with an file extension. This is a standard behavior Windows do since so long time that I even not remember since when. 🙂 

Simply right-click with your mouse any .stl file in the windows explorer and then choose -->"open with" and select the app you like. Choose -->"More apps" / -->"Look for another app on this PC" in case it isn't listed. It will become a default behavior if you activate -->"always use this app to open ... files" check box.

 

Beside of that I as well do not recommend it as you will limit you to a specific app. Most of us do not use only one version of Cura. I for example use 5 different slicers and this sometimes in different versions. Another for me important point is that it takes quite a time to open Cura and every time you click a wrong file you need to wait until Cura is ready to do its magic...

 

In addition I would suggest using a thumbnail program for viewing .stl thumbnails in windows explorer. My choice is Papas Best since it was available first time. It is a lightweight application, fast and, more important, it is w/o any kind of bloatware or calling home stuff. There are two programs, one is the thumbnail app and the other is a lightweight viewer that is incredible fast. It becomes very handy for quick look of 3D .stl files. Use this as default app for stl files and you can view such files comfortable within your explorer before you drag and drop it to a slicer of your choice for printing.

Link: https://papas-best.com/index.html