How to Change the Default Web Browser on Mac in 2026

Your Mac's default web browser is set in System Settings. Open it from the Apple menu, select Desktop & Dock in the sidebar, scroll down to Default web browser and pick the browser you want. That works on macOS Ventura and every version since, including macOS 27, according to Apple. On older Macs the same menu sits in System Preferences → General.

It's a small setting with a big footprint. Every link you click in Mail, Messages, Slack, a PDF or a calendar invite goes through it, so when it points at the wrong browser you spend the day signing in to things twice. Below: the step-by-step for every macOS version, how to do it from inside Chrome, Firefox and the rest, how to go back to Safari, and the fixes for a default that won't stay put.

What the default browser on a Mac actually controls

The default web browser is the app macOS opens when you click a web link outside a browser. Apple describes it as the browser used "when you click a link in an email or text message" in its Desktop & Dock settings guide, and in practice that means most web links you click in other apps. Safari is the default on every new Mac.

Changing it does a few things and leaves a few others alone:

• It changes which browser opens web links you click in other apps.
• It doesn't remove Safari. Safari is part of macOS and stays installed; you can open it from the Dock or Applications whenever you like.
• It doesn't move your bookmarks, passwords or history. Each browser has its own; import them from the new browser's settings if you want them there.
• It doesn't decide which app opens a saved .html or PDF file. Files follow the Finder's Open with setting, covered further down.

How to change the default browser in System Settings (macOS Ventura to macOS 27)

On macOS Ventura 13 and later, the default browser lives in System Settings → Desktop & Dock. The steps from Apple's support article haven't changed through macOS Sonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe and macOS 27:

1. Install the browser you want to use, if you haven't already.
2. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose System Settings.
3. Click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar (it's below the fold on smaller screens, so scroll if it's missing).
4. Scroll down the right side until you see Default web browser.
5. Open the Default web browser menu and choose your browser: Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Brave or whatever you installed.
6. Close System Settings. There's no Save button to press.

On a fresh work Mac, this is the second thing I change, right after the Wi-Fi. I install Chrome, sign in to it, then flip the default in Desktop & Dock before I open a single email. Do it in that order and the first link from a colleague opens somewhere you're already logged in.

How to change the default browser on older macOS (Monterey and earlier)

On macOS Monterey 12 and earlier, the setting is in System Preferences → General, per Apple. The menu has the same name:

1. Install the browser you want to use.
2. Choose Apple menu → System Preferences.
3. Click General.
4. Choose a browser from the Default web browser pop-up menu.

Not sure which you have? Choose Apple menu → About This Mac. If the window says Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe or macOS 27, use the System Settings steps above.

How to set the default browser from inside the browser

Chrome and Firefox each have a Make default button in their settings, and either one ends in the same place: a macOS confirmation that asks whether to switch or keep your current browser. Choose the option that uses the new browser, or nothing changes. Microsoft describes that prompt as a macOS security feature that appears whenever an app tries to set the default browser (Microsoft Learn).

Make Chrome the default browser on Mac

From Google's Chrome help:

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the More icon (three dots) beside the address bar, then Settings.
3. In the Default browser section, click Make default.
4. In the macOS pop-up, choose to use Chrome.

If there's no Make default button, Chrome is already your default.

Make Firefox the default browser on Mac

From Mozilla's support article:

1. Open Firefox, then choose Firefox → Settings in the menu bar (older versions say Preferences).
2. In the General panel, click Make Default…
3. Confirm in the macOS pop-up.

If Firefox is already the default, the button is gone and Firefox says so instead.

Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc and other browsers

Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi and other Mac browsers usually have a similar default-browser option in their settings, and any browser that tries to make itself the default triggers the same macOS confirmation. If you can't find the button, skip it: the Desktop & Dock menu in System Settings does the same job for any installed browser.

I'll be honest, I prefer the System Settings route. A new browser often asks to be the default the moment you open it, and I've clicked straight past that pop-up more than once while trying to get to a page. The setting in Desktop & Dock shows you what's selected right now, which is the thing you actually want to know.

How to make Safari the default browser again

To switch back to Safari, open System Settings → Desktop & Dock and choose Safari from the Default web browser menu. Apple's Safari guide gives the same two steps for anyone who changed the default by accident.

Switching back doesn't touch anything in the other browser. It stays installed with its tabs and bookmarks, so you can try a browser for a week and return without losing anything.

Why can't I change my default browser on Mac?

If the menu won't show your browser or the setting keeps reverting, start with the four usual causes below, in this order:

Links still open in the wrong browser

Some apps ignore the system default. Apple notes that some apps open web pages in a browser other than your default, without naming which. If one app keeps sending links to the wrong place, look in its settings for a browser or link option before you assume macOS is wrong.

This one caught me out. After switching to Chrome, I kept getting a link that opened in Safari, and I changed the setting twice before I noticed it only happened from one app. The default was fine all along; that app had its own idea about where links should go.

A browser keeps asking to be the default

Browsers often ask to be the default when you open them, and saying yes by reflex is the usual reason a default "switches back". On a work Mac there can be more to it: Microsoft documents a policy that makes Edge prompt you to set it as the default at every launch, even after you change it. Microsoft says the default "can't be blocked programmatically", meaning a company can't lock it in place, so the policy keeps asking instead (Microsoft Learn). If your company manages your Mac, the prompt is probably on purpose, and IT is the right person to ask.

How to open one link in a different browser without changing the default

You don't have to change the default to use a second browser for one link. Any of these takes a few seconds:

• Copy and paste. Control-click the link, choose Copy Link, switch to the other browser and paste it into the address bar.
• Drag it to the Dock. Drag the link, or a page's address, onto the other browser's icon in the Dock.
• Use a browser picker. Apps like Velja decide which browser or browser profile opens each link, with rules per website or per app, and can ask you each time. Velja is a one-time $10 purchase and needs macOS 26 or later, per its developer.

I keep Chrome as my default for work and still open some links in Safari, mostly anything personal. For the occasional link I copy and paste. If you find yourself doing that all day, that's when a browser picker earns its place.

How to choose which browser opens HTML files

Saved files follow the Finder's Open with setting, not the default browser menu, so a downloaded .html file can still open in Safari after you switch. To change it for every file of that type, the steps in Apple's Mac User Guide are:

1. In the Finder, select one of the files.
2. Choose File → Get Info, or Control-click the file and choose Get Info.
3. Expand the Open with section with its arrow.
4. Pick the browser in that menu, then click Change All.

Skip Change All if you only want that one file to open in the other browser.

Change your default email app while you're there

The default browser has a sibling setting: the default email app, which decides what opens for a mailto link such as an address on a website. That one isn't in System Settings at all; it's in Mail → Settings → General → Default email reader, per Apple's default browser article. If you're moving to Chrome because you live in Gmail, our guide to switching your Mac's email app covers that switch and the webmail catch.

If you're switching browsers because Arc or another browser is going away, our look at Dia browser alternatives compares the main options for Mac. And if your browser changed its homepage or search engine on its own rather than by your choice, that's a different problem: see how to remove My Inbox Helper from a Mac.

Before you switch: a short checklist

• Sign in to the new browser and its sync account first, so links don't land on login pages.
• Import bookmarks and passwords from your old browser in the new one's settings.
• Set the default in System Settings → Desktop & Dock, and confirm it shows the new browser.
• Click a link in Mail or Messages to check it opens where you expect.
• If your email lives in the browser, point the Mail Default email reader menu at it as well.