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How I changed my default apps in MacOS - and you can too, in seconds
Recently, I discovered a new (to me) video player, Elmedia, that was vastly better than MacOS's default QuickTime. The new app was much better at displaying accurate color, which was something I really needed. I installed the app and forgot to set it as the default, so every time I opened a newly edited and colored video, QuickTime would take over. I'd have to close QuickTime, then right-click the file, select "Open With," and choose the media player I wanted.
I knew I needed to set it as the default, but I just kept forgetting to do it.
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Eventually, I set Elmedia as my global default video player and realized I should explain how it works, because it's not exactly intuitive.
Are you ready?
How to set a global default app from the GUI
What you'll need: The only things you'll need for this are a machine running MacOS (updated would be nice) and a file you want to open with an app that isn't the Apple default.
1. Locate the file to be opened
The first thing to do is locate the file you want associated with what will be your new default. This should be a common file type you open on your MacOS device (such as a video, audio, or document file).
2. Open the information window
Once you've located the file in question, right-click (or two-finger tap) the file and select Get Info.
You can do this with any file type and for any installed app that can open said file type.
3. Change the default for the file
You should see a drop-down under the "Open With" label. Click that drop-down, then select the app you want to associate with the file.
I'm setting the Elmedia video player as the default app for .mov files.
4. Make it global
If you leave it at that, you've essentially told MacOS to always open that particular file with a different app. That means if you go to open a different file of the same type, it'll still use the original default. To make it global, you have to click Change All and then, when prompted, click Continue to verify the change.
You have to verify the change before it will take effect.
How to set a global default app from the terminal
You can also do this from the terminal, but it requires the installation of a specific command line utility that has to be installed via Homebrew. The app in question is duti.
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1. Install duti
With Homebrew installed, open your terminal app and issue the command:
brew install duti
2. Retrieve the new default app ID
You must locate the App ID so it can be used with the duti command. Let's say you want to use the Elmedia video player as your default for .mov files. To do that, here are the steps:
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- Open Finder
- Go to the Applications folder and right-click the app in question
- Select Show Contents
- Navigate into the Contents folder
- Double-click the Info.plist file
- Look for the CFBundleIdentifier key
- Take note of the ID (In the case of Elmedia, the ID is com.eltima.elmedia6.mas)
3. Set the default app
We're going to set the default app for .mov files as Elmedia with the command:
duti -s com.eltima.elmedia6.mas mov viewer
Done. You've now set the default app for .mov files as Elmedia.