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Fixing a Blank Default Web Browser Setting in OS X El Capitan

Published by

Michael

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I don’t know what causes this problem but recently I discovered that the “Default web browser” setting in the General preferences tab was blank. Clicking on the drop-down showed no browser names so I could not change the use of Safari as the default browser.

The fix was relatively simple. I opened Chrome and via settings within Chrome I set it to be the default web browser. After completing this action I then had the names of the installed browsers in the “Default web browser” drop-down.

This fix may work using any browser that allows you to set it as the default from within the browser settings itself.

5 responses to “Fixing a Blank Default Web Browser Setting in OS X El Capitan”

  1. foodie202 Avatar
    foodie202

    U Da Man!! The symptoms I had was the app menu under Default Browser pref was blank, and when I click down on it to pop up the menu, it gives me a single blank checked item. After running another browser and setting it as default, the preferences now has a complete list of all the browsers, and I can change it back to Safari. Thanks!!

    Reply
  2. crystal Avatar
    crystal

    Thanks – worked for me.

    Reply
  3. Flippakitten Avatar
    Flippakitten

    In case any other Mac user stumbles in here scratching their head.
    I am guessing it happens with a major upgrade or something like that, in my case Chrome and Chrome Canary stopped working completely so I need to uninstall and delete some files.

    What that did was not unset Chrome Canary as my default browser, so it was showing blank.

    Anyway, long story short I had to open FireFox and set that as my default browser first, then go into System preferences and set it to Chrome.

    Reply
  4. zukka Avatar
    zukka

    thanks!

    Reply
  5. Earl Avatar
    Earl

    Looks like Apple are trying to make people use Safari.. again!

    Reply

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Hello,

I’m Mike

Welcome to my blog, which I have maintained for several years, off and on, to share things that I’ve learned from numerous projects and various problem solving escapades. This is my way of giving something back to the online communities that have helped me learn more about a wide variety of topics.

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