Default applications in Mac are useful. But, they have limited usage as a default app. We can set the application as default application in Mac as per our choice. Here are the steps for how to change the mac default programs. Read on to know more! Mac - Set Default Application for PDFs This document covers how to set different applications to open PDF files in macOS. By default, macOS has Preview the built in PDF reader open and render all PDFs. Changing default apps for specific file types. One upgrade you might consider right away is to change the default PDF viewer on Mac to something like PDFpen, or another advanced PDF reader. PDFs are one of the most common files types encountered daily. With the latest version of the Windows-on-Mac virtualization tool Parallels, you can set default applications across platforms, meaning that if there's an application that you prefer on Windows.
There are a lot of strong arguments in favor of macOS, it is beautiful, robust, well designed, and just works. While it is true, I hate the fact that the default Media Player on macOS is a Quick Time Player. I wanted to use VLC as my default media player for all the video files on my mac. That said, let’s set VLC as the default app.
I use VLC simply because it is more intuitive than Quick Time Player, supports file types such as MKV, and gives you total control of the video playback from the keyboard. Download dynamic range meter mac.
Set VLC As Default App On Mac
![Set Set](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134185895/848736576.png)
1. Open With: The Easy Method
There is an option built into the macOS that lets you set any application as a default. To set VLC as default for a video file, Right-click the file> Click ‘Get Info’.
Also Read: VLC For Apple TV: Fixing 3 Common Problem
Under the ‘Open With‘ section, select VLC from the drop-down menu. Click the ‘Change All’ button. That’s all you need to do, the video file would open with VLC every time you double click it or press CMD+DOWN.
Mac Set Default Apps Chrome
However, the problem with this method is that you would have to repeat the process of setting VLC as a default app for every video file type. Pro tools 12.4 download mac. If you want a set it and forget it type fix then let’s check out the next method.
Mac Set Default Apps For File Type
2. Swift Default App: The effective Method
To set VLC as a default app for every video file type, we’d install a small utility app, Swift Default Apps. It’s a preference pane app that would let us set any app as default. Download the app from the Github page and install it on your system.
Once installed, you will find this app in System Preferences, Click SwiftDefaultApps icon.
Select Applications from the row of tabs, scroll down to find VLC and check all the media files that you want VLC to play. Now, simply close the System Preferences and that’s it. All of the video files have been set to VLC now.
Bitdefender antivirus free download mac. Read: How to Play MKV Files on Mac
Set VLC as Default App on Mac
These were two simple ways to set VLC as your default media player. I don’t mind using the first method but I consume a lot of video content and setting every format to play with VLC isn’t something I’d want to do. SwiftDefaultApps can do so much more than just setting VLC as the default app. What do you think of these methods, let me know in the comments below or reach out to me on Twitter?
Must Read: How to Check Battery Health on Macbook
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Click the Enable: menu and select All Applications. Now the App you want to select will not be greyed out.
- Make sure that the Always Open With box is checked, and then click the Add
button. - Almost done! Click the Change All… button.
- You’ll be prompted for confirmation – click Continue.
- Now just make sure that the App you want to use is the one listed as the (default) in the Open with: section.
- Done! Repeat these steps for other file type associations you want to make.