Google Chrome Default Browser Mac

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  1. Set Chrome Default Browser Mac
  2. Make Google Chrome Default Browser Mac
  3. How To Make Google Chrome Your Default Web Browser Mac
  4. Mac Make Google Chrome Default Browser
  1. From the panel on the left side, click “Default Browser.” Under the Default Browser section, click “Make Default.” A dialog box will appear asking if you want to change your default web browser. Click “Use Chrome.” If you don’t see the “Make default” button, then Chrome is already your default web browser. Make Google Chrome.
  2. RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Google Chrome's Profile Switcher. To back up your profile(s), copy the Default profile folder and any numbered Profile folders in the UserData folder on Windows, the Chrome folder on Mac OS X El Capitan, or the google-chrome folder in Linux to an external hard drive or a cloud service.

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?

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.

Set Chrome Default Browser Mac

Make sure that the other email app is installed. Although you might be able to use a web browser for email (webmail), a web browser isn't an email app. Open the Mail app. Choose Mail Preferences, then click General. Choose an email app from the ”Default email reader” menu. The Mac defaults to using Safari as the default web browser, but what if you prefer to use Google’s Chrome web browser instead? There’s a few ways to change the default browser, but perhaps the easiest if you’re looking to use Chrome is through the Chrome browser itself.

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.

  1. Click on the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
  2. Choose the General tab.
  3. 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

  1. Launch the Safari browser.
  2. Go to the Safari menu and choose Preferences.
  3. In the general tab, press the Set Default button.
  4. Press Use 'Safari' to confirm.
Google Chrome Default Browser Mac

Chrome

  1. To make Chrome the default browser, first of all, launch it.
  2. Click on the Chrome menu and select Preferences.
  3. On the web page that opens, scroll down until you see the 'Default browser.'
  4. Click 'Make default' and confirm.

Firefox

Set
  1. Launch Firefox.
  2. In the Firefox menu, click Preferences.
  3. 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

Make Google Chrome Default Browser Mac

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.

How To Make Google Chrome Your Default Web Browser Mac

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:

  1. Download CleanMyMac X and launch it.
  2. Click Smart Scan.
  3. Click Run.

Mac Make Google Chrome Default Browser


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.