How to Change the Default Browser on a Mac

These steps apply to recent macOS releases — macOS Ventura (13) and later, including macOS Sonoma, macOS Sequoia and the current 2026 release. If your Mac still runs macOS Monterey or earlier, jump to the older-macOS section further down.

Step 1 — Install the browser first

macOS will only let you pick a browser that is actually installed and has been launched at least once. If you have not done this yet:

1. Open Safari (or any current browser) and download the installer for the browser you want — for example Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Brave — from its official website.
2. Most Mac browsers arrive as a .dmg disk image. Double-click it, then drag the app icon into your Applications folder.
3. Open the new browser once from Applications or Launchpad. The first launch is what registers it with macOS so it shows up in the settings list. If macOS warns that the app was downloaded from the internet, click Open to confirm.

Step 2 — Open System Settings → Desktop & Dock

On current macOS the default-browser control is inside Desktop & Dock:

1. Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner of the screen and choose System Settings.
2. In the sidebar on the left, click Desktop & Dock. You may need to scroll the sidebar down a little to find it.
3. On the right, scroll down until you reach the Default web browser pop-up menu. It sits near the bottom of the pane, in the group of settings for windows and default apps. Apple's Mac User Guide page Change Desktop & Dock settings on Mac gives the same route — Apple menu → System Settings, then Desktop & Dock in the sidebar — and lists Default web browser among the settings in that pane.

Step 3 — Choose your default web browser

1. Click the Default web browser pop-up menu. macOS lists every browser you have installed and opened at least once.
2. Select the browser you want — for example Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge or Safari.
3. That is it. The change saves immediately; there is no Apply or Save button and no restart needed. Close System Settings.

From now on, any link you click — in Mail, Messages, Notes, Slack, a PDF, or anywhere else — opens in the browser you just chose.

Doing this on older macOS (Monterey and earlier)

Before macOS Ventura, the setting lived in the old System Preferences app under General:

1. Choose Apple menu () → System Preferences.
2. Click General.
3. Choose your browser from the Default web browser pop-up menu.

The behaviour is the same — the browser must be installed and opened once, and the change applies right away. If your Mac still runs this version and prompts you to update, moving to a current macOS also gives you the newer System Settings layout described above.

Per-app and per-link handling

Changing the system default covers almost everything, but a few situations use their own rules:

• Links inside specific apps. Some apps (certain email clients, chat apps and RSS readers) have their own "open links in" preference. If a particular app keeps using the wrong browser, check that app's own settings first — its internal setting overrides the system default for links opened from within it.
• The default email app. This is a separate setting. On current macOS you set it inside the Mail app: open Mail, choose Mail → Settings from the menu bar, click General, and pick a Default email app.
• Which browser opens a file you double-click. For local .html files, changing the system browser does not always change the app that opens the file. To control that, select an .html file in Finder, press Cmd+I to open Get Info, expand Open with, choose the browser, and click Change All… to apply it to every file of that type. Apple sets out the same sequence in Choose an app to open a file on Mac, and warns not to click Change All if you only want the one selected file to open in that app.

If the change will not stick

Occasionally the default seems to reset or a link keeps opening in the old browser. Work through these:

1. Reopen the app you clicked from. Apps read the default browser when they launch, so quit and reopen Mail, Slack or whatever you clicked the link in.
2. Confirm the browser is still installed and updated. A half-removed or corrupted install can drop out of the list. Reinstall the latest version from the official site and open it once.
3. Re-select it. Set the default back to Safari, close System Settings, reopen it, and choose your browser again to force macOS to re-register the choice.
4. Check for MDM or profiles. On a managed work or school Mac, an administrator can lock the default browser through a configuration profile. If the setting is greyed out or keeps reverting, contact your IT admin.