Nov 13, 2017 Click the Enable: menu and select All Applications. Now the App you want to select will not be greyed out. How to set your default email reader on Mac. Mail is likely the default email app on your Mac, but just in case you have others downloaded, you can set the default reader. Here’s how: Launch Mail from your dock or the Finder. Click Mail in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click Preferences. Click the drop-down next to Default Mail Reader. Oct 17, 2017 I have to set the default telephone app on 10 iMacs and don't want to register 10 iCloud-accounts just to do the facetime login and being able to open the preferences there. That's ridiculous. Installed RCDefaultApp and set the default telephone app there but the phone-icon in contacts application is still greyed-out. May 14, 2017 Easily Change Default Apps in macOS Sierra. With these methods, you can easily change the default apps on Mac to any third party app that you prefer using. Changing default apps in macOS Sierra can help you automatically open files, and documents in the app of your choice. There are a number of third party apps for Mac, that are very powerful.
Your Mac is smart – it has an app for each of your actions. Clicking on a text doc will open Pages and playing media content will take you to QuickTime. But what if you could make it even smarter by choosing the apps responsible for all actions? Well, you can.
How to change default programs on a Mac
To customize defaults for specific files:
Right-click on a file.
Select Get Info > Open with.
Click on Change All to make the selected app default.
Similarly, you can replace defaults for other utilities on a Mac. Wacom intuos 4 driver mac high sierra. To pick a custom email client, go to Mail Preferences, select Default Mail Reader and click on the app in the drop-down menu.
Setapp apps that replace Mac’s defaults
Change default application, replacing them with more cutting-edge alternatives and see how your casual Mac environment evolves into an incredible space for productive work. Here’s an ideal app switching plan:
Simplified activity monitoring with iStat Menus
So here’s the truth about Activity Monitor – it’s just too complicated. You have to sit and scroll through tons of data to figure out why your Mac is misbehaving or how to optimize battery use. In contrast, iStat Menus is a minimalist app that adds only 9 icons to your menu bar. And guess what, they give you all the insights about Mac’s performance in seconds. Look no further.
QuickTime alternative: Elmedia Player – take better care of your media content
The default media player on Mac is called QuickTime – a simple, free solution that handles Apple’s preferred media formats seamlessly. So when you get a new Mac and want to play any content, QuickTime would be the program that opens your media file – in case the file is supported.
If you’re already thinking about an alternative that supports all types of files, including AVI and WMV, we don’t judge you. In fact, we have a good suggestion. Elmedia Player supports virtually any type of media content as well as allows you to download files from YouTube and watch online videos without ads.
A custom dock on a Mac with uBar
Dock is big. Of course, this part of your screen is super important, but not exactly functional. Look at your Dock right now. Do you need all the items you see there? Most likely, 10% of the Dock apps are those you used yesterday and forgot to hide. uBar makes your Dock shrink, adding lots of precious space to Mac’s screen. Customize the look of your custom dock once, enjoy an improved Mac environment always.
Finder alternative: Enhance file management with ForkLift and DCommander
Your starting point to everything on a Mac. That’s how you can describe Finder. It could seem you're so used to Mac’s native file manager, there’s no chance you ever betray it. But with extra features at stake, think twice.
The beauty of ForkLift, an alternative file manager app for Mac, is that it’s pretty similar to Finder in terms of the flow. Only with extra capabilities. You can customize file visibility, compare files right from the toolbar, and create presets for renaming files.
Another alternative to the old good Finder is DCommander. If you’re looking for a pro-level file manager with superior batching capabilities, this is the one. From checksums to HEX viewer, the app gives you all the details about your files. The interface might look overwhelming for a beginner, but it’s worth mastering.
Personal assistance on a Mac in human terms
Lacona is basically an ideal version of Siri – faster, more accurate, and customizable. Unlike Mac’s default virtual assistant, Lacona has excellent natural language processing capabilities. This means you can ask anything in plain language –from launching an app to reminding you about someone’s birthday – and get an answer instantly. Ensure your Mac gives you the best assistance possible.
BusyCal, a better version of Mac’s Calendar
A superb substitute for Apple’s native Calendar, BusyCal adds all the perks you’ve been missing in the default app. Integrate live weather forecast, fully customize the feel and look of a calendar, add graphics and to-dos.
While BusyCal clearly wins in functionality, it’s also pretty expensive if you buy a single app – $49.99. There’s an option to test the calendar with a free 30-day trial or get it as a part of Setapp’s subscription.
Apple Mail alternative: Replace your default email client with Canary Mail
Half the workday. That’s an average estimate of how much time people spend in their email apps. If you think about it, your productivity pretty much depends on your email flow and the tools supporting this flow. Apple’s default email client does a good job in case you’re not bombarded with emails every day. If you have to act on most of the emails though, you might want to change the default. And get Canary Mail.
The app aligns your inbox with daily tasks – a get-things-done solution. You can drag emails right from the inbox into a to-do list or follow-ups, as well as track read activity. Integration with Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud makes it easy to transfer data. To accelerate your email workflow even more, you can store ready-to-use templates and signatures in the app.
CleanShot for clean screenshots
If you’re a Mac user, Command-Shift-4 is the extension of your hand. Keyboard shortcuts for taking screenshots in macOS are relatively easy to keep in mind. So you don’t have to puzzle about how to capture a portion of the screen, a menu, or a window.
But that’s just a fraction of what you can do with screen recording software. From annotations to custom wallpaper, there are tons of other goodies to benefit from. CleanShot is a small app that has most of them. Apart from the basic screen recording toolkit, CleanShot adds a special superpower to your menu bar – you can toggle desktop icons and set any background for your screenshots. The app also has a Quick Access Overlay menu, which allows you to edit, save, and share your captures right away.
Archive Utility alternative: Create, split, and protect archives with Archiver
Just in case you didn’t know, there’s Archive Utility on your Mac – a small hidden tool that allows to create and expand archives. But more importantly, there’s a world-class app that does way more. Here’s what you get with Archiver if you use it instead of the default utility:
RAR, Stuflt, Zip, and many more archive formats available in one click.
Preview archives and selectively unzip specific files.
Create split archives.
Protect sensitive data by encrypting your archives.
Unpack multiple archives simultaneously.
Alternative to Time Machine: Get Backup Pro to backup like a pro
Launch Time Machine, click to backup, hope your data is safe. That’s how we’re used to protecting files on a Mac. Bad news: If you rely on the default utility only, your data might be in danger. It’s always better to use at least two tools, so that when you’re backing up to an external drive with Time Machine, there’s also a utility for running regular backups. Or, you can use Get Backup Pro. The app allows to decide which units to backup as well as runs scheduled procedures – two birds with one stone.
Apple Notes alternative: Distraction-free text editing with Ulysses
Like most word processing programs, Apple’s native Pages have one drawback – they fail to get a creative into the right flow. Writing is a fragile process and requires a perfect environment. The things like font customization, distractive menus, and folders kill all the vibe. Ulysses helps you get rid of the problem by switching to a plain text editor that’s all about you and your creation. Write non-stop, format, and publish right from the app.
From a Mac file opener to a ZIP reader, the choice of replacements for Apple’s defaults is huge. The curated collection we’ve brought to you in this article is a great place to start if you want to upgrade your Mac’s capabilities – get the whole pack with a Setapp subscription or test specific apps for free.
The default applications in Mac are easy to use. But, some of the default apps lacks some features that we badly need. Or there are operations that we want to perform but aren’t available in Mac default programs. So, what we can do in such a scenario?
All we can do is change default application on Mac from the one we want to use in Mac.
Today, in this article, we will be looking at the step by step guide for how to change Mac default programs from the ones that we prefer to use.
Change Mac Default Calendar
This process will change your Mac’s default Calendar Application.
1. From the Applications folder, open Calendar or type ‘Calendar’ in Search box and open it.
2. Now, from the menu bar of Calendar, go to ‘Preferences’.
3. Now in General, select the ‘Default Calendar App’ menu.
4. In this menu, choose the preferred calendar application, which will be the default calendar app.
How to Change Default Mail Application on Mac?
How To Set Default Applications On Macbook Pro
This process will change default mail application on Mac to open and send mails.
1. From the Applications, open Mail or type ‘Mail’ in Search box and open it.
2. Now, from the menu bar of Mail, go to ‘Preferences’.
3. Now in General, select the ‘Default Mail Reader’ dropdown menu.
4. Choose the preferred default mail reader application. There are some applications that are not fully functional at times. So, when choosing the default mail reader app make sure that it performs all the functions that you want to perform.
How to Change Default Browser on Mac?
This process will tell you how to change default browser on Mac with the specific web browser of your choice.
1. For this, you have to go to Mac’s System Preferences from the menu bar.
2. In System Preferences, go to General box.
3. As soon as you enter the General Pane in System Preferences, there is a ‘Default web Browser’ option followed by the dropdown menu.
4. From the given list of web browsers, select the one that you most commonly use. And, if you see any third-party web browsers in the list, avoid making them as your default web browser.
This process can also be done from within the respective web browser by going to preferences & simply performing the steps.
Read Also : How To Organize Files And Folders Using macOS Tags
Make Google Chrome Default Web Browser
1. Go to Preferences in Google Chrome menu.
2. In Default Browser option, click ‘MAKE DEFAULT’.
3. After this, a Mac OS dialog box will appear on your screen asking you to confirm. Select Use “Chrome” button.
Note: Mozilla Firefox can be made default browser by following the same steps given above.
Change Mac Default Image Viewer
This process will change your Mac’s default image viewer with the specific viewer of your choice.
1. Find and search for an image in file finder with extension .jpg or .png.
2. Now, right click on the picture and select ‘Get Info’ option from the menu.
3. In Get Info window, search for ‘Open with:’.
4. Now when you click the menu given on the right side of Open with, a list of applications will appear that are able to view that image.
How To Set A Default App On Mac
5. Choose the application that you want to open your image with.
6. Now press the ‘Change All’ button. This button confirms that the particular application is set as the default image viewer application.
7. After pressing Change All, a dialog box will appear on your screen asking you to continue with this app. Press Continue.
This will change your default mac image viewer.
Read Also : 10 Best Data Recovery Software for Mac 2018
Default Apps On Mac
Note: By following the same steps as given above, you can change your Mac’s default app to open files & file types as well.
These all the steps allow us to change the default applications on a Mac.
How To Set Default Apps Windows 10
There are some applications as well that allow you to change your systems default applications.
If you found this helpful, please let us know. You can also drop your feedback in the comment section below.