How to Change Your Default Browser on macOS (and a Smarter Alternative)

Changing your default browser on a Mac takes about ten seconds, but the setting controls more than people realize, and for a lot of workflows a single default is the wrong tool entirely. Here is how to change it, what it actually does, and when you want something better.

How do you change the default browser on macOS?

Changing the default takes about ten seconds. Every http and https link clicked outside a browser, in Mail, Messages, Slack, or a PDF, will then open in the app you choose.

1. Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
2. Click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar.
3. Scroll to the Default web browser dropdown.
4. Choose the browser you want to handle every link.

On older macOS versions the same setting lived inside the General pane, and some browsers also offer to make themselves default the first time you launch them. They all change the same underlying Launch Services registration.

What does the default browser setting actually control?

The default browser setting picks one application. It does not pick a profile, and it does not vary by where the link came from. Whatever you choose receives every link, and that link lands in whichever profile is currently active in that browser.

For a single-profile, single-purpose machine that is fine. The moment you keep separate profiles for work and personal, or juggle two Chrome installs, one default stops being enough. You can change the default all day and still have links open in the wrong place, because the wrong place is a profile, not an app.

When does a link router beat a default browser?

Instead of choosing one browser to receive everything, you can set the default to a small link router that decides per link. Burly registers as the default handler, then on each click lets you choose the exact browser profile to open in. The setting in System Settings still points at one app, Burly, but Burly hands the link onward to Work, Personal, a Firefox profile, or a separate Chrome install as you direct. If you are comparing that approach to rule-based routers, the macOS link router comparisons lay out price, profile support, and picker style for each option.

This keeps the simplicity of having a default while removing its biggest limitation. You get one place that catches every link and an instant choice of where it should really go, all without copying URLs between windows.

Why does my default browser keep changing back?

Something asked to become the default, and the request was accepted. Most browsers check whether they are the default when they launch or update, and offer to take over if they are not. macOS then shows a confirmation asking whether to switch or keep the current browser, and it is easy to click through that dialog without reading it.

If the setting keeps flipping, open each browser's own settings and turn off its prompt or check for being the default. If your Mac is managed by your employer, a device management profile can also set the default browser, and in that case the change has to come from your IT team rather than from System Settings.

Can you set a different default browser for each app?

Not in macOS itself. The default web browser is one system-wide setting, so Mail, Slack, Messages, and every other app hand their links to the same place. A few apps add their own override: Microsoft Teams, for example, has a preference for which browser opens its links. Most, including Slack and Outlook for Mac, simply follow the system default, as covered in making Slack, Teams, and Outlook links open in the right profile.

The practical workaround is to make the system default something that can decide per link. A router receives every link from every app and then opens the browser, and the profile, you choose. It also solves the problem one level down, which a per-app browser setting never could: two profiles inside the same browser. The guide to browser profiles on a Mac explains which profile each browser picks when a link arrives on its own.

Which should you choose?

Set your default browser in System Settings under Desktop and Dock. If you only need one browser and one profile, you are done. If you live across multiple profiles, point the default at a link router like Burly so every click can land in the right profile instead of just the right app.