How to Change Your Default Browser on Mac

Let’s talk about browsers for a second. Over the last 25 years or so, we as internet users have come cross so many internet browsers which can be special on its own. But then sometimes, we might find something better and stick to it.

Whenever we find the browser that works for us, its a common thing for people to make it their default browser so that whenever you click on any link, you would want that particular browser to open the link you clicked.

What is Safari?

If you are an Apple user, you might be aware of the fact that its the built-in browser (you can’t delete it, trust me I’ve tried a long time ago) that comes as part of all the devices made by Apple.

See Also: How to Enable/Disable Live Text in iPhone and Mac

First introduced in 2003, its one of the early browsers in the internet age. Initially introduced only for Mac devices, Apple managed to add it to the iPhone when it was released in 2007. It was also a browser for Windows only from 2007 to 2010. Even though its not the most popular browser in the world, it surely is a preference to a lot of people who user Apple Devices especially in iPad and iPhone.

Latest Safari Features

As of 2022 April, we have iOS 15.4 which has major updates when its comes to features and aesthetic design. In this section, we will talk about some of the features that are available in Safari.

• Bottom bar : The bottom bar in Safari is completely redesigned to give more controls to the users and even has a lot of Gesture controls to make your browsing a lot better and easier. Swipe up to see all tabs and even swipe right or left to close the ones you want to user in the tabs view.
• Tab Groups : This is one of the features that is well received among Safari users. Tab Groups are a great way to save and organize your tabs based on the purpose and intent. If its work related, you can put them in a particular group. The same applies for Fun, entertainment or any other project you are working on. The Tab Groups also syncs with all your devices and can be seamless throughout your Apple ecosystem.
• Start Page Customization : For the first time ever, now you can customize the start page to ensure that it looks the way you want it to. Starting from Background image to sections that are visible, you can change so many things in the Start Page. Sections like Siri Suggestions, Shared with You or even Privacy Report could be shown in the Start Page. Similar to Tab Groups, even start page customization synchronizes across pages.
• Intelligent Tracking Prevention : As part of Apple initiatives to stronghold users’s privacy new features like preventing trackers from using your IP address can be done via Intelligent Tracking Prevention.
• HTTPS upgrade: Safari automatically makes sure to use HTTPS protocol whenever its available for the site you are browsing.
• Web Extensions: Now, the web extensions are available in iOS well. You can install via Apple Store and more and more extensions are being added to the App Store as we speak.
• Voice Search: Its basically an easy way to search things online. Tap on the Microphone and then start talking. You will see suggestions and once chosen you will redirect to the page you are looking for.
• Translation support: As of April 2022, we have support for Italian and Chinese translation support.
• Grid view: The tabs can be shown as a grid, so that its easier to navigate and switch between them. Tap on the icon at the bottom right corner and you will be taken to that page directly.

These are only the major features but there are so much more than that in the Safari browser. I would say in the last 10 years, Safari has come a long way in terms of improvement and browsing speed.

Chrome eating battery?

Now lets talk about Google Chrome for a second. If you are not aware of Google Chrome, its the most famous browser at the moment in the world. It has over 63.58% browser market share. That’s a huge number.

See Also: 3 Ways to Improve iPhone Battery Health in 2022

So, Why is Chrome so popular? Its the fastest internet browser out there and there’s not even a debate. But, at what cost? It loads pages so faster and apps with lightning speed but at the cost of your computer’s performance and battery life. Chrome is designed in such a way to overclock your RAM with its V8 Javascript engine.

So, Google Chrome is not a reliable browser even though its works like magic. I have chosen to actually started moving most of my browsing to Safari.

How to Change Your Default Browser

In this section let’s talk about how we can change your default browser in Mac computers. you can change the browser to any default browser anytime you want. Let’s see how to do that.

See Also: How to Change the Default Browser in Windows 11

1. Assuming you have already updated to the latest version of macOS and iOS in all of your Apple devices.
2. Also, you need to have secondary browser installed other than the current default internet browser.
3. Click on the Apple menu and in the menu that appears, choose System Preferences as seen below.
4. Under System Preferences Menu, choose General.
5. Then choose a browser under Default web browser section.
6. Click on the dropdown and select the one from the list shown.

Now that we have a new default browser, anytime you open any link it will be opened by the default web browser you chose just now.

What are the other options other than Chrome and Safari

Up until now, I have spoken about only Google Chrome and Safari. But in this section I will talk about all the alternative browsers out there than you can choose to use as a default web browser.

• Mozilla Firefox : Firefox was the most popular browser which was run by a non-profit before Google Chrome came along and took over the market. Firefox is extremely customizable providing so many plugins and extensions. It even has features like popup blocker and a great feature that lets you get an alert in case if you email address has even been part of a data breach. Its available across all the platforms and all devices possible.
• Brave : Brave is claimed to be one of the only privacy-first web browsers focusing on security features, data syncing and reward mechanisms.
• DuckDuckGo : Similar to Brave, DuckDuckGo is also focused primarily on Privacy. Even though DuckDuckGo is a search engine, its also a browser which is built with a simple UI for desktop and mobile users. There are no fancy features or anything like Google Chrome but if you care about privacy, you should definitely check it out. The great thing about DuckDuckGo is the fact that there are no cookies stored, nothing to track your preferences at all. Once you close the tab, its gone.

• Vivaldi : If you remember the old Opera browser, Vivaldi was creating by those who create Opera. Unlike Opera, vivaldi has a new refreshing user interface which is easy to use and seamless. Also, the customization is out of this world when it comes to Vivaldi. I would say its even better than Google Chrome in that sense.
• Tor browser : Tor is another great browser that focuses on Privacy. It also incorporates the Onion Router which is a great addition as a browser feature. Its important to make sure that you are not a vulnerability to internet scam artists and trackers who are trying to steal your information and sell it to marketers on the internet.

See Also: Top 10 Browsers for Windows 11 PC (2022)

These are all the browsers that you can use as alternatives for Google Chrome and Safari. I personally Prefer DuckDuckGo because its so simple and works like a charm.

You should definitely check out browsers and set them as default web browsers instead of sticking with the main ones like Google Chrome or Safari.