- How To Set Preferred Apps On Macbook
- How To Set Preferred Apps On Macbook Pro
- How To Set Preferred Apps On Mac Computer
- How To Set Preferred Apps On Mac Os
Safari is the default browser in macOS and has been ever since Apple first built its own web browser. Before that, for a while, it was Internet Explorer — but the less said about that the better, and before that, it was Netscape Navigator. Remember that?
The default image viewer on Mac is Preview, a stock macOS app that actually originated at NeXT. Preview does many things. On top of letting you view, edit, and annotate images and PDF documents, Preview can also import and export documents to various file formats. Mail is likely the default email app on your Mac, but just in case you have others downloaded, you can set the default reader. Here's how: Launch Mail from your dock or the Finder. Click Mail in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click Preferences. Click the dropdown next to Default Mail Reader. Click the app you'd like to set as the default. While the default Mail app on a Mac has been vastly improved in macOS Sierra, chances are, you still have a preferred third party email app that you’ve been using for quite some time. However, changing the default email client on a Mac is not as straightforward as changing the default image viewer, or even changing the default web browser is.
- Here's how to set up and use the dictation feature on a Mac computer. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Voice-to-text is a helpful feature for those who are often out and about.
- The default Mac applications that come with your new Mac work well enough, but they lack certain features you might be seeking. You can change your Mac's default applications, for email and everything else, by following the appropriate instructions here.
Safari is a perfectly good web browser and offers most of the features of its competitor web browsers, including autofill for forms and credit card details, secure password storage, and the ability to request that websites do not track you. Given Apple’s recent focus on privacy, it’s not unlikely that Safari will soon be the best option all around for Mac users who want to surf the net securely.
However, there are perfectly good reasons why you might want to use a different browser. Performance is one of them. While Safari is pretty speedy, for some users in some circumstances it’s slower than Chrome or Firefox. Or it might be that there are extensions you need that are only available in Chrome, or perhaps a website you use regularly doesn’t work properly in Safari. So, here's how to open a different browser on Mac and set it default.
What is a default web browser?
Before we get to how to change your default web browser, it’s worth considering what a default web browser is and does. Put simply, it’s the web browser that opens a link when you click on it in an email or other document. If you use Spotlight and click on a result from the web, it will open in your default browser. In fact, any task that opens a URL will be performed in that web browser. It doesn’t mean, of course, that you can’t use other browsers to surf the net.
So, if you just need to access specific sites in Chrome or Firefox, you don’t need to change your default browser. Even if Safari is your default browser, you can open any link in another browser, by holding down the Control key when you click on it and selecting Copy Link, then paste it in the address bar of any browser you like.
Clearing cache and cookies can remove outdated information and fix possible bugs on websites. CleanMyMac X automates the cleanup: it lets you clear all browsing data at the touch of a button. Additionally, you can run a full system scan to optimize and maintain your macOS. It's free to try the app, so you don't lose anything!
How to set the default browser on Mac through System Preferences
Apple changed the way you set the default browser in OS X Yosemite and it has remained the same since then. Previously, as you’ll see below, you had to open Safari to, say, make Google Chrome the default browser. As Apple realized, eventually, that’s plain daft. Here’s how to do it now.
- Click on the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
- Choose the General tab.
- Just over halfway down, there’s a menu next to the “Default web browser.” Click on it and choose the browser you want to set as the default.
How to change the default web browser from the browser's settings
Every browser wants to be the default — it’s the most obvious way to increase user numbers. And so whenever you open a browser that’s not the default, you’ll see a pop-up window asking if you want to set it as your browser of choice. If you choose so, it will change the System Preferences setting and position itself as the default.
If you refuse and later decide you want to make it the default, after all, that’s easy too. Here’s how you do it in some of the more popular browsers for macOS.
Safari
- Launch the Safari browser.
- Go to the Safari menu and choose Preferences.
- In the general tab, press the Set Default button.
- Press Use 'Safari' to confirm.
Chrome
- To make Chrome the default browser, first of all, launch it.
- Click on the Chrome menu and select Preferences.
- On the web page that opens, scroll down until you see the 'Default browser.'
- Click 'Make default' and confirm.
![How to set preferred apps on mac os How to set preferred apps on mac os](/uploads/1/3/4/0/134071729/427881832.jpg)
Firefox
- Launch Firefox.
- In the Firefox menu, click Preferences.
- At the top of the page, you should see “General” and underneath it, a message saying that Firefox isn’t currently your default browser. To the right of that, click Make Default.
If you want to change your default browser to any other browser not mentioned in this article, you can take a similar route: browser menu > Preferences > Make (Set) default.
3 quick tips to make your browser faster
Whichever web browser you use, there are some tips you should remember in order to keep it running optimally.
1. Always use the most up-to-date version.
Safari updates with macOS system updates, so make sure you install system updates when they become available. Most browsers automatically update themselves when you close and reopen them. But if you keep them open permanently, they won’t update. So the easiest way to keep them updated is to quit them every now and again.
2. Don’t keep lots of tabs open at once.
Open tabs, even those that are hidden, consume RAM, processor cycles, and energy. The more you have open, the slower your Mac will become. So close tabs you no longer need.
3. Keep your Mac clean of junk
Unnecessary files, including cache, cookies, language files, and old updates can slow down your whole system, as they take more and more space. The simplest way to get rid of them is to use a dedicated app like CleanMyMac X. To quickly delete useless files on your Mac, follow the steps:
- Download CleanMyMac X and launch it.
- Click Smart Scan.
- Click Run.
![Pro Pro](https://www.mcafee.com//wp-content/uploads/2019/09/iStock-954683756-min-2-1024x683.jpg)
How To Set Preferred Apps On Macbook
As you can see, setting your default web browser in macOS is very easy — choosing which browser to use maybe less so. Whichever browser you choose, you should maintain it to keep it running optimally, CleanMyMac X can help do that easily.
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Answer
To set a PDF viewer as the default on Mac OS X:
- Select any PDF file from Finder. Control-click to open the menu.
Result: A menu will open next to the file name. - Choose Get Info from the menu that opens.
Result: A new window will open with information on that PDF file. - From the Open with: section in the new window that opens, select your preferred application, such as Adobe Reader or Preview.
Result: That application will be selected. - Click the Change All button. In the subsequent dialog box, click Continue.
Result: The application that you selected will be the location in which PDFs open.
How To Set Preferred Apps On Macbook Pro
To set a PDF viewer as the default on Windows
How To Set Preferred Apps On Mac Computer
- If no other PDF viewer is installed, once Adobe Reader is installed, it becomes the default.
- To set a preferred PDF viewer as the default:
- Windows 7:
- Follow the menu path Start > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program
- Highlight .pdf, then click Change.
- Choose your preferred PDF viewer, such as Adobe Reader.
- In Windows XP
- Follow the menu path Start > Control Panel > Folder Options > File Types.
- In Windows 10
See: Tech Minute's Instructions
- Windows 7: