Coming from Windows? On a PC you’d hunt through Settings → Apps → Default apps to change which program opens your PDFs. macOS does it differently — and honestly, faster: right-click any file, open Get Info, pick an app under Open With, and hit Change All. That one click reassigns every file of that type at once.
Change the default app for a file type
- In Finder, right-click (Control-click) a file of the type you want to change — a .pdf, a .jpg, whatever keeps opening in the wrong app.
- Choose Get Info from the contextual menu.
- Expand the Open with section and pick your preferred app from the dropdown. If it isn’t listed, choose Other… to browse your Applications folder, or grab one from the App Store.
- Click Change All…, then Continue to confirm. From now on, every file of that type opens in the chosen app. Apple’s macOS User Guide documents the same flow.
Override the default for just one file
Sometimes you want one specific file — say, a spreadsheet — to open in a different app without changing the rule for all spreadsheets. Right-click the file, hold the Option key, and choose Always Open With to pin one app to just that file.
Change the default web browser and email app
Web links and email addresses don’t go through Get Info — they have their own settings:
- Default web browser: System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Default web browser.
- Default email reader: open the Mail app → Mail → Settings → General → Default email reader.
Repeat the Get Info steps for each file type you want to reassign. To revert, run the same steps and pick the original app — Preview for PDFs and images, for example. iDownloadBlog’s guide to default apps on Mac has screenshots if you get lost.
If it still doesn’t work
- If your app isn’t in the Open with list, use Other… and navigate to it in Applications — or reinstall it so macOS registers it properly.
- Relaunch Finder (Option + right-click the Finder icon in the Dock → Relaunch) if the change doesn’t seem to stick.
- Some apps aggressively reclaim file associations on launch; check the app’s own preferences for a “set as default” toggle and turn it off.
- Need the app first? See how to quickly open the installed apps list in macOS 26 to find what’s available.
Frequently asked questions
Why does macOS keep resetting my default app?
Usually because another app re-registers itself as the handler when it updates or launches. Run Get Info → Change All again after updating that app, and check its preferences for an auto-claim setting.
Can I set different apps for different files of the same type?
Yes — that’s what Always Open With (Option + right-click) is for. It pins a single file to a specific app while the Change All rule keeps applying to everything else of that type. While you’re customizing Finder, you might also like how to change folder colors and add emoji in macOS 26.
Conclusion
Forget the Settings maze: on a Mac, default apps are a right-click away. Get Info → Open With → Change All handles every file type, and the browser and email reader each get one dedicated toggle. Set it once, and double-clicking just works.
