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This article will show you how to Make Preview the Default Viewer on Mac. The Preview app that comes with your Mac automatically opens PDFs. Preview is a good way to view PDFs and make simple notes on them, but it lacks some real PDF editing tools. Preview doesn’t have a way to change the text or pictures in a PDF file, nor can it be used to fill out a complex interactive form.
You’ll need a more powerful app for this. Once you have it, you may want to change the PDF reader that your Mac uses by default. Opening a file is one of the most basic computer tasks, and most of the time, all you have to do is double-click on the file window. But what happens when the wrong tool opens your file? It can really mess up your work and waste a lot of your time. Depending on the app, it can even make your computer move at a snail’s pace.
Most computer files have a file name extension that fits their file format, such as PDF, JPEG, or DOCX. Each file format is associated with one of the apps that you have installed on your computer. This association tells your computer which program to run when you double-click a file icon to open it. But if you install more than one app that can all read the same file format, you’ll have to choose which one you want to be the default.
How to Make Preview the Default Viewer on Mac
Change Default PDF Reader on Mac via Get Info Menu
- First of all, you need to launch the Finder app or go to the desktop or wherever there is a PDF file that you want to open.
- After that click on the PDF file and then press Command + I keys together to “Get Info” on the document. You can also get there by right-clicking on it.
- Now you need to click on the arrow next to “Open With:” to get inside the list of default applications.
- After that, simply open the drop-down menu and select the default PDF viewer you want to set. In this case, you would want to select the Preview app.
- In case, the application is not present, then you need to click on “More” and manually select it from the /Applications/folder.
- Once you have selected the default PDF reader app that you want, just click on “Change All” to change the default system settings on your Mac computer.
- Done.
Change Default PDF Viewer on Mac via “Always Open With”
- On your Mac computer, search for any PDF file and right-click on it.
- After that select the option of Open With > Other.
- Now you need to go to Enable, select Recommended Applications and choose the PDF viewer you would like to set as default via the app list.
- At this point, you need to tick the box of “Always Open With.”
- Finally, you just have to click on Open to change your default PDF viewer on Mac.
If you want to change your default PDF reader to something else, like Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can easily do so in the “Get Info” pop-up. Right-clicking on a PDF on your desktop or in your docs lets you do this. Also, if you just got a different viewer, you may get a pop-up when you first open it asking you to make it your default app.