Change The Default App To Open Files On Mac

This video shows you how to open certain files into certain applications automatically. For example, you can tell every single Microsoft Word document on your Mac to open in TextEdit or Open.

You know how when you double-click a PNG file it opens in Preview? What if you want it to open in Photoshop by default instead? This guide shows you how to to just that – change the default App that’s used when you open a file.

Some common “I’d rather use this App when I open this kind of file” scenarios are:

The process to switch default Apps is super-fast and easy to do, and easy to change again later any time you want.

1. For the sake of this guide we’re going to switch .M3U files (commonly used as playlists) from opening in iTunes to the media player VLC. That doesn’t mean you need to do the same, this process is the identical no matter what type of file you’re dealing with.

   Locate a file of the type you want to switch. Right-click the file (or hold down the control button on your keyboard and then click on the file) and select Get Info from the context menu.

2. A window will appear with all kinds of info about that file. Locate the Open with: section and expand it (if necessary) by clicking the small ‘triangle’ icon. Click the ‘pull-down’ menu to open it.
3. If the App you want to open this type of file with from now on is listed, select it. Congrats, you also get to skip down to step #7. If the App you want to open this file with is not listed – don’t worry, just click the Other… item from the menu.
4. A pop-up window will appear allowing you to pick the program you want to open this type of file with. Find the App by first selecting Applications and then scroll through the list. When you find the App, select it by clicking on it once. Now skip down to step #6. If the App you want to use to open the file with is ‘greyed out’ and you can’t select it – no problem.
5. Click the Enable: menu and select All Applications. Now the App you want to select will not be greyed out.
6. Make sure that the Always Open With box is checked, and then click the Add
   button.
7. Almost done! Click the Change All… button.
8. You’ll be prompted for confirmation – click Continue.
9. Now just make sure that the App you want to use is the one listed as the (default) in the Open with: section.
10. Done! Repeat these steps for other file type associations you want to make.

Are you bored of opening your photos in the default Preview application on Mac ? Got a new photo viewer and want to make it as a default one on your Mac OS X ? Here is the simple tutorial to change the default application for specific file types on your Mac. Normally we use “Open With” option to open a particular file with a different application from the default ones. But next time when you open the same file it will open in the default application.

Bought a new Macbook or iMac ? You may want to check out our list of Essential Mac Apps for New Macs. Under productivity apps category, you can checkout our list of free mail apps for mac and paid alternative to apple mail apps for mac.

In order to completely change the default application for that specific file type follow the steps below.

Step 1: Choose a file that’s the type you want to change. For instance I have selected a JPEG file which uses “Preview” application on Mac OS by default. So I’m going to change the default application for JPEG files from “Preview” to “Skitch“, a simple image editor from Evernote. The first step is right click on that image file and select “Get Info” from that list.

Step 2: Once you did that you will get another window as shown in the screenshot below. In that you have an option called “Open With“. Below that there will be a drop down box, just click that. After you click that you will get a list of applications installed on your Mac which supports that particular file type.

Step 3: Choose the application from the list you want to set as a default one for that particular file type. In this case I’m gonna select “Skitch” as the default application to JPEG files. If you stop with this that particular file alone will open in Skitch. To view all files of that type in Skitch you have to choose one more option on that dialog box.

Step 4: Close that dialog box and click on “Change All” button below. A window will pop up as shown in the screenshot below. Click “continue” to confirm that all the JPEG files on your Mac will use Skitch as its default application. That is all, now the default application will be changed from “Preview” to “Skitch”.

How To Change A Default App

This is how you can change the default application for any type of file on your Mac OS. Try this on your Mac and share your experience with us in the comment box. Thanks for reading and have a great day !