How to Change the Default Web Browser on a Mac

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: June 2, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to make a web browser other than Safari your default web browser on a Mac computer. Common third-party browsers include Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, but you can set any browser that's installed on your Mac as the default browser.

1

Install your preferred web browser.

You can use any web browser on your Mac. If you have a browser in mind, go ahead and install it. Otherwise, you can check out the following browsers and see which one you like best:
- Google Chrome – Download from https://www.google.com/chrome/downloads.
- Edge – Download from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge
- Firefox – Download from https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox.
- Opera – Download from https://www.opera.com.
- Vivaldi – Download from https://vivaldi.com/download.
- Brave – Download from https://brave.com/download.

2

Open your Mac's System Preferences.

Click the Apple menu and select System Preferences. The System Preferences panel is where you can change your default Mac apps, including your default web browser.

3

Click the "General" icon.

You'll see General near the top-left corner of the window. You can change your web browser from here.^{[1]
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4

Select a browser from the "Default web browser" menu.

Click the menu that says "Safari" and choose your preferred browser. As long as the browser is installed on your computer and is up to date, it should show up as an option here.
- If you don't see the browser that you want to use, restart your Mac and then re-open the System Preferences window to try again.

Community Q&A

Question

My Mac 10.7.5 is too old for supported Safari or Chrome. What browsers can I use?

Community Answer

Firefox is still supported on old versions of OSX. This is important for old apple computers that can't update to the latest version of OSX.
Question

Where is the browser located on the screen?

Community Answer

That depends on what browser you are looking for and where you have saved it. You can usually find 'Safari' already installed on the dock, but if not, you can always go to the 'Applications' folder on Finder and move it into the dock from there.
Question

How do I set safari as the default?

Margaret Althea Elvenshadow

Community Answer

Open Safari. Click "Safari" in the Apple menu at the top of your screen. Go to "Preferences>General>Default Web Browser," and click the option you want.