10 – Second Tip: Change Your Default Web Browser

With the release of Safari 4, Apple has given us some very compelling reasons to stick with Safari as our default web browser.   But perhaps you’re still running OSX 10.3 or 10.4 and can’t get the newest version of the fastest web browser.   Or perhaps you simply prefer to use another browser such as FireFox, Flock, Opera, Camino, or many other available apps made to help you surf online.

Once you’ve chosen your “default” browser, worry not, you won’t find yourself obligated to use only that default browser.  What default browser means is that when you click on a link in an email, or you double-click on a file which forces a browser to open, your Mac will launch that browser to visit the page to which that link refers.

You probably want to set your default browser to be whichever browser you use most often.  This is the one you have stored most of your bookmarks in.  Otherwise, you may find yourself with half of your bookmarks saved in one browser, and the other half in another browser, which can be irritating.  If Safari is your most used browser, you can stop right now, as there’s nothing to change.

Otherwise, here’s how to do it:

Launch Safari. 
Since Safari is set to be your default browser by, um.. default, it is only appropriate that you change this setting from inside of Safari.

• Click on Safari menu, and choose Preferences.

• Choose the General tab at the top of the Preferences Window.

• To the right of “Default web browser” is a drop down menu. Locate your desired application from the drop down menu.

• You’ve now changed your default browser. Quit Safari.

That’s it!

You may be wondering why one might choose to use more than one browser, and the answer is “the right tool for the right job.”   I use a few browsers throughout the course of my workday.  For example:

Safari is my default browser, and I use it for all of my research and to manage my Social Media profiles throughout the day.  Safari is feature-rich and launches in fewer than 2 seconds on my MacBook Pro.

FireFox is my main development browser.   I use it to deal with building web pages, accessing servers, account centers and other professional logins, online banking, etc.  FireFox has historically been more secure than Safari, and besides, I currently have all of my business bookmarks, sensitive passwords and logins stored in FireFox.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for reading.

~ Chris

 

Tagged as: 10-Second Tip, Mac, Your Digital-Life