When you get Windows 10, Internet Explorer (or Edge) is set up as the default browser: If you click a web link in a document, for example, and Internet Explorer (or Edge) jumps up to load the web page on your Windows 10 device. But, if you prefer to use a different browser with Windows 10, you can set the one of your choice.
Both Firefox and Chrome offer to become your default web browser, as soon as you install them. They also have a check box that basically tells them to quit asking.
It’s easy to change your default browser and set the browser of your choice in Windows 10.
Here’s how:
- Click Start, then click the Windows 10 Settings icon (which looks like a wheel or Gear).
- Click the Apps icon. Then, on the left, choose Default apps.
- On the right, scroll down to the web browser entry; chances are good it says Microsoft Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge. Click Microsoft Edge. You will see a list of all browsers currently installed on your computer.
- Choose the browser that you want to turn into your default browser. Then click Switch anyway when Microsoft tries to convince you to continue using Edge.
This tells Windows 10 to associate with the browser almost all filename extensions that the browser can handle.
- Don’t trust Microsoft’s re-assigning your browser defaults? Good. Down at the bottom, click the link that says Set Defaults by App. (one of the screens below will be displayed, depending upon you version of Windows 10).
The pick list appears. Whoa! When Windows 10 sets defaults for say Google Chrome, it doesn’t shuffle PDF files to Chrome.
Instead, it keeps PDF files inside Edge. A little bit of dirty pool by Microsoft.
- Select the boxes next to whichever files you want to open in your new browser, and then click Save.
Your chosen Windows 10 program (in this example, Google) becomes the default for that particular kind of file. If you change the PDF box over to Chrome, for example, double-clicking a PDF file will open it in Chrome — not in Edge.