OS X: How to Change Default Application to Open File Type

Contributed by David Kirk

Tagged: Apple Mac

If you click on a file and the wrong app opens it, you can change the default application to open that file or file type. These are the steps to both change the default app to open one specific file or to change the default app to open all files of one file type.

I frequently work with images on my MPR. Typically I just want to view an image instead of edit it so having Preview as my default app makes sense.

However, some images I know I am going to edit and edit and edit. By changing the default application to photoshop for that file, I can save a bunch of time.

Anyway, here is how to do it for one specific file only first. Below I’ll show you how to change the default application for all files of one file type.

Change Default App for One File:

1. Ctrl-click on the file you want to open
2. Click Open with
3. Select Other

4. Select the applcation you want to open the file
5. Select Always Open With
6. Click Open button

Now that one file will always open with the application you picked.

If you want to change the default app that opens all the files of one particular file type, you can do that too.

Change Default App for All Files of a File Type:

1. Ctrl-click on the file
2. Click Get Info

3. Under Open With pick the app that you want to become the default

4. Click the Change All button
5. Confirm your decision

49 Comments -

Chip Caramel said on October 1, 2008

thank you! I always wondered how that was done!
Macesz said on November 13, 2008

Thanks!!!!
plusarchi said on November 15, 2008

Thank you.
mojo said on November 29, 2008

thanks. helpful
anon said on December 23, 2008

Thanks, awesome, succinct.
davak said on December 24, 2008

Thanks for the kind words!
Hypnos said on February 15, 2009

Thank you for the solution. I was wondering about the latter case, as as recent OS switcher.
Computermad said on March 21, 2009

Thanks! gd job!
steeeverb said on May 8, 2009

I’ve been looking for this answer — perfect. Why I cannot find this answer on apple.com is beyond me. They obviously made the functionality…
Thanks so much.
anon said on June 2, 2009

This fails and instantly reverts to the previous application. Try giving complete informaiton next time.

Some applications forbid you from changing the type and there is no known bypass,

Microsoft office, and The unarchiver both will not allow you to change their types after wet w/o uninstalling the applications. Try it out install comical, then the unarchiver, then try to set cbr files back to comical. It’s impossible till you uninstall the unarchinver, same with office.
Matteo De Felice said on June 20, 2009

thanks
Zinga said on August 3, 2009

Thanks a lot for the tip!!!
Richie said on August 12, 2009

Thanks!
Anonymous said on August 19, 2009

I’ve just done this, but the trouble is every document i download has .html added to the end of it, so my computer thinks everything is the same!

How can I fix this? It’s driving me mad!!
Anonymous said on August 26, 2009

Really?!!? That easy? I simply can’t believe I didn’t figure that out on my own. Off & on for the last 2 months I’ve been searching around system preferences and what not, trying to find a way to set a default app for all .avi files.. all the while doing the normal “angry at my computer” dance.
Thank you for making my life a little easier!
oops! said on November 12, 2009

Thanks a lot man! These Ctrl-Clicks, alt-Clicks,… are killing me! Can’t apple just put it somewhere so that everyone knows how to do it?!
Dino said on December 14, 2009

This is a weak explanation and doesn’t even include instructions for removing any associations created by the steps above. A more accurate answer to this question would be:
Modify the file “~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist”

You could then go on to explain different ways of editing that file. For example, Finder’s “Get Info” dialog, which offers no way to REMOVE the associated application.

I love this OS, but it’s frustrating when Google comes back with nothing but useless information. Here’s another example: how do you set a folder’s appearance based on an icns file? Good luck trying to figure that out! If you think you know the answer, don’t forget that an icns file contains multiple images, each at a different resolution.
Anonymous said on December 19, 2009

I agree that the explanation is not complete.

While it often works as described, there are alternatives and there are also undescribed side-effects.

One such (free) alternative app is RCDefaultApp .

The un-described and un-desired side effect is that the Mac OS then goes and physically changes ever-so-slightly every single matching type file on your computer, adding a resource fork where there was none before, or adding to the existing resource fork. At least, this is how it has almost always behaved on my Mac OS X Tiger. And being a stickler for keeping source data in original form, the addition of resource fork data is not acceptable.
(I am planning to test on Snow Leopard, but have not done so yet — fearful of the changes to all my files)
Anonymous said on January 15, 2010

Greatly appreciated! I am new to Mac after 10 years of being an MCP. Mac is SO easy to use, and the help sites like this provides is awesome!! Thanks so much!
James Parent said on January 29, 2010

Thank you! Very useful… had figured out how to change the default app for a single file but the prospect of changing thousands of .pdf from Adobe to Preview individually wasn’t enticing.
Thanks for the guide on how to do it for all files at once!
keith said on April 4, 2010

Oh…. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been having a problem with JPGs opening with colorsync (and was about to delete colorsync!) forever…. finally, you have answered my prayers with this solution!
Anonymous said on May 4, 2010

This is nice do you know why Quicktime set itself as an AVI reader. I “Change All” to VLC and sometime later (probably after Apple updates), Quicktime is back, lame as ever, unable to play sound of an AVI file.
Anonymous said on June 14, 2010

Very useful. Thank you!
Caps said on June 25, 2010

Many thanks! WIthout your write up I would have missed the last step!
Anonymous said on June 25, 2010

thanks for the kind words.
Bari Sowa said on June 27, 2010

I need help!

I am new to mac, and after trying unsuccessfully to download PhotoScape, I am trying to open and run Photoshop. I have The Archiver installed on my mac and it won’t let me run certain programs, saying that the files cannot be extracted. GAH! How do I get around Extractor, which I use frequently for unzipping music files?

Thanks!
Deek206 said on July 12, 2010

Thanks, this is really going to me headaches and frustations
gabriel said on August 8, 2010

thanks,

I’ve been trying to figure this for months !
None said on August 11, 2010

Thank you for Posting this
Ijermyn said on August 15, 2010

Great tip; Thanks!
Marcel Belivo said on August 23, 2010

The “Get infos” thing works for me. Thank you very much !!
E_onux said on September 14, 2010

Thank you Davak.
Michael Whitaker said on September 15, 2010

Ok, so what if, after clicking “Change All” it reverts back to the original application? I can’t get mine to stick once I click on “Change All”, even after following all your instructions.
Anon said on October 5, 2010

Thank you! I keep forgetting how to do this one. Great explanation.
Melusine Abraxas said on October 7, 2010

thank you XD I was opening them one by one it was really frustrating :D
Cuddle said on October 8, 2010

Thank you!
timmy said on October 29, 2010

Nice, but what if the app is on a network drive? There is no way to browse to the location in the mini finder that comes up.
Eric P said on November 13, 2010

Actually there is a shortcut to “Always Open With”. When your right click the file (or after you right click)…hold down the option button. The menu will change from “Open With”, to “Always Open With”.

I found this completely by mistake, I might add!
cgh said on December 11, 2010

thanks for that. simple yet effective. this had been bugging me for ages as I use BB Edit but occasionally I’d get a file that’d open Dreamweaver and I’d waste time shutting it down.
Mrsc1990 said on February 4, 2011

This is exactly the problem I’m looking to solve. Have you had any answers? Why won’t it save the setting?
Mary said on March 29, 2011

Very helpful — exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks a bunch!
Preview Preferred said on April 16, 2011

Awesome help – who needs the heavy and cumbersome acrobat for viewing pdf’s anyway?
Tarun said on August 28, 2011

ThANKS! it works
davi said on September 4, 2011

thank you so much! brilliant!
Zakk Forchilli said on September 8, 2011

This is incredible. FINALLY a simple guide getting to the point.

No need for a 3rd party app or anything.

This also works with ALL versions of OS X after 10.4.
INCLUDING, Lion!
Graeme B said on October 18, 2011

Thanks. Worked a treat. And aside from those negative replies above, people should realise that any advice given is open to glitches or occasions where it may not work. I and most others appreciate your effort to respond to our needs.
Z said on October 23, 2011

Thanks for this, really helpful!!
Crystal Sargent said on December 6, 2011

My computer wont save the setting. What am I doing wrong? All my picture files are wrong, I can’t change them one by one! Please help!
Chris said on January 23, 2012

This does not work for files of type *.webloc. They will always be opened by Safari.

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OS X: How to Change Default Application to Open File Type

If you click on a file and the wrong app opens it, you can change the default application to open that file or file type. These are the steps to both change the default app to open one specific file or to change the default app to open all files of one file type.

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