How To Select Default App For File Type Mac

Are you bored of opening your photos in the default Preview application on Mac ? Got a new photo viewer and want to make it as a default one on your Mac OS X ? Here is the simple tutorial to change the default application for specific file types on your Mac. Normally we use “Open With” option to open a particular file with a different application from the default ones. But next time when you open the same file it will open in the default application.

Set Default App For File Type Mac
How To Select Default App For File Type Mac Keyboard
Change Default App For File Type Mac

Choose your target photo file type or format, click the Save button, your source picture will be converted to the target file format using Preview app on Mac computer. See also this tutorial to convert images to PDF on Mac. This article shows how you can load image files to Preview app and save them as PDF documents for free on Mac. The following are two methods to change the default app in Mac OSX. Changing the Default App for That Specific File Only. If you want to change the app that the file in question will open with, follow the directions below: 1. Locate the file whose default app you want to change. Right-click (Alt-Click) the file. Changing the Default App. If you want to change the default app that opens a certain file type, you need to find a file that has the correct file type. So if you want all PNG files to open in a new app, you will need an PNG image to perform this. Locate your file and right click (Alt click) on the icon. This will bring you a menu with a. Click this and you'll see the default app associated with this file type. Now click on the dropdown menu, select a new default, then click the Choose All button. From now on, all files of that.

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In order to completely change the default application for that specific file type follow the steps below.

The file should then open in the app you selected, and from there on out, it will default to this app. This happens even though it’s not the default app for the particular file type. How to assign all files of a file type to always open in a specific app (setting default app) Step 1: right click on the file and choose Get Info. Choose one of the programs or apps listed to open this type of file in the future. Optionally, you can select “App Store” or “Other” if the program you want to use as a default isn’t listed.

Step 1: Choose a file that’s the type you want to change. For instance I have selected a JPEG file which uses “Preview” application on Mac OS by default. So I’m going to change the default application for JPEG files from “Preview” to “Skitch“, a simple image editor from Evernote. The first step is right click on that image file and select “Get Info” from that list.

Step 2: Once you did that you will get another window as shown in the screenshot below. In that you have an option called “Open With“. Below that there will be a drop down box, just click that. After you click that you will get a list of applications installed on your Mac which supports that particular file type.

Step 3: Choose the application from the list you want to set as a default one for that particular file type. In this case I’m gonna select “Skitch” as the default application to JPEG files. If you stop with this that particular file alone will open in Skitch. To view all files of that type in Skitch you have to choose one more option on that dialog box.

Step 4: Close that dialog box and click on “Change All” button below. A window will pop up as shown in the screenshot below. Click “continue” to confirm that all the JPEG files on your Mac will use Skitch as its default application. That is all, now the default application will be changed from “Preview” to “Skitch”.

How To Select Default App For File Type Mac

This is how you can change the default application for any type of file on your Mac OS. Try this on your Mac and share your experience with us in the comment box. Thanks for reading and have a great day !

When working with user documents and files in macOS, the user should decide where those files reside in the file system. The standard Open and Save panels provide you with an interface to use whenever you interact with the user’s files. You present the Open panel when you want the user to select one or more existing files or directories. Present the Save panel when you have a new user document that you need to write to disk.

Important: An iOS app should never use an Open or Save panel to prompt the user for the location of a file within the app’s sandbox. iOS apps should always save files to known locations inside their sandbox, and apps should use a custom interface when presenting those documents to the user. iOS apps can, however, use a UIDocumentPickerViewController to prompt the user to import, export, open, or move files to or from some areas outside the app’s sandbox. For more information, see the Document Picker Programming Guide.

The Open Panel: Getting Existing Files or Directories

You use the NSOpenPanel class when you want to prompt the user to select one or more files or directories. Exactly how you use this class depends on what you plan to do with the selected items:

Set Default App For File Type Mac

To open a document in a new window, present the Open panel modally relative to the app.
To choose files or directories and use them in conjunction with an already open document or window, present the panel as a sheet attached to the corresponding window.

Opening User Documents That You Plan to Display in a New Window

When you want to ask the user to select a document to display in a new window, display the standard Open panel modally. Document-based apps normally provide this behavior for you automatically, providing the infrastructure needed to respond to the Open command in the menu. To display this panel in other situations, you can implement your own method to display the panel. The steps for creating and presenting an Open panel yourself are as follows:

Use the openPanel class method of NSOpenPanel to retrieve an Open panel object.
Present the panel using the beginWithCompletionHandler: method.
Use your completion handler to process the results.

Listing 5-1 shows a custom method that presents the standard Open panel to the user. This panel uses the default configuration options, which support the selection of a single file from all available file types. The beginWithCompletionHandler: method displays the panel in a detached window and returns immediately. The panel runs modally relative to the app and calls the supplied completion handler on the app’s main thread when an item is selected. Upon the successful selection of a document, you need to provide the code to open the document and present its window.

Listing 5-1 Presenting the Open panel to the user

Important: In OS X 10.6 and earlier, you must retain an Open panel before displaying it and release it when you are done with it. Because the openPanel method returns an autoreleased object, the panel is normally released shortly after it appears on screen. Retaining the panel prevents it from being deallocated and dismissed prematurely. You do not need to retain the panel if it is attached to a window, and you do not need to retain the panel in macOS 10.7 and later when using ARC.

In a document-based app, requests to display the Open panel are handled by the openDocument: method of the app’s document controller object, which is part of the app’s default responder chain. Instead of implementing your own Open panel code, you might consider calling the openDocument: method instead. Doing so ensures that your custom code and the default app infrastructure always display the same Open panel. Customizing the panel at a later time also becomes easier because you have to make changes in only one place.

For more information about implementing a document-based app, see Mac App Programming Guide.

Choosing Files and Directories for an Already Open Window

To choose files or directories that relate to the current window, configure the standard Open panel as a Choose panel and use it to retrieve the user’s selection. The main difference between the standard Open panel and a Choose panel is how you present it. Whereas you present the standard Open panel as a standalone modal panel, you almost always attach a Choose panel to one of your existing windows. Attaching the panel to a window makes it modal to the window but not to your whole app. Other differences relate to the configuration of the panel itself. A Choose panel can be configured to allow the selection of directories, multiple items, or hidden items among other options.

The NSOpenPanel object returned by the openPanel method is configured with the following default options:

File selection: enabled
Directory selection: disabled
Resolve aliases: enabled
Multiple selection: disabled
Show hidden files: disabled
File packages treated as directories: disabled
Can create directories: disabled

Listing 5-2 shows a method you might implement in one of your NSDocument subclasses to import some files and associate them with the document. After configuring the panel, this method uses the beginSheetModalForWindow:completionHandler: method to present the panel as a sheet attached to the document’s main window. If the user selects some files, the URLs method contains the corresponding file and directory references to incorporate.

Listing 5-2 Associating an Open panel with a window

For single-window apps, associate the open panel with your app’s main window. For document-based apps, associate it with the main window of the current document.

The Save Panel: Getting a New Filename

For document-based apps, requests to save the current document should be handled by the document object itself. The NSDocument class implements sophisticated infrastructure to manage both the Save panel and save-related operations, such as autosaving. As a result, the document object often customizes the default Save panel significantly and making additional customizations is not recommended except through the existing NSDocument methods. You could still use a custom Save panel to handle the exporting of files using different file formats.

If you are not using the NSDocument infrastructure, you can create your own Save panels and display them at appropriate times. The NSSavePanel class provides methods for creating and customizing the default Save panel. When implementing your own document infrastructure, restrict your use of a Save panel to documents the user creates and wants to save. Do not use a Save panel for files your app creates and manages implicitly. For example, iPhoto does not prompt the user to specify the location of its main library file; it creates the file in a well-known location without any user interactions. However, iPhoto does present a Save panel when the user exports an image to disk.

Listing 5-3 shows a method that a document object might call when exporting a file to a new type. This method assembles a new filename from the document’s existing name and the new type being saved. It then presents the Save panel with the new name set as the default value and initiates the save operation as appropriate.

Listing 5-3 Saving a file with a new type

For more information about implementing a document-based app, see Mac App Programming Guide.

Using Filters to Limit the File Types That the User Can Select

If your app is able to open only specific file types, you can use filtering to restrict the user’s selections to the subset of files your app actually supports. The Open panel does not restrict the types of files the user can select by default. To prevent the user from selecting files your app cannot handle, install one or more filters on the Open panel. Files that do not match the provided filters are dimmed by the Open panel and cannot be selected by the user. You can also install filters on the Save panel to dim unknown file types.

You specify filters as UTIs, filename extensions, or a combination of the two. After collecting your filter strings into an array, you assign them to the panel using the setAllowedFileTypes: method. The panel handles the actual filtration of files for you. You can change the filters while the panel is visible.

Listing 5-4 shows an example of how to configure the Open panel to allow the selection of image types only. The NSImage class provides a convenience method for retrieving the supported image types. Because the strings in the returned array are UTIs, the results are handed directly to the panel.

Listing 5-4 Filtering for image file types

Adding an Accessory View to the Open and Save Panels

To present the user with additional options when opening or saving files, add an accessory view to the standard Open and Save panels. Normally, the Open and Save panels process events and handle all interactions until the user cancels or accepts the results. An accessory view lets you add custom controls and views for gathering information or modify the behavior of the panel itself. For example, you might use custom controls to change the set of filters used by the panel or change the options your own code uses when opening or saving a file.

The basic process for adding an accessory view to an Open or Save panel is as follows:

Load the accessory view from a nib file. (You can create accessory views programmatically too, but using a nib file is often easier.)
Create the panel.
Associate your view with the panel using the setAccessoryView: method.
Show the panel.

Compare the preceding steps to displaying a panel normally and the only difference is loading your view and calling the setAccessoryView: method. All of the other work required to manage an accessory view and respond to events is your responsibility.

Defining the Contents of Your Accessory View

Because an accessory view is just another view, you define it the way you define other views in your app. An accessory view always consists of a single main view that may itself contain any number of subviews. The most common configuration for an accessory view is as a host for one or more controls. When the user interacts with the controls in your accessory view, those controls use the target-action design pattern to call your app’s custom code. You can then use that code to store configuration options or take any relevant actions.

How To Select Default App For File Type Mac Keyboard

A nib file is the simplest way to define an accessory view. Before setting up the nib file, you need to know which object in your app is going to present the panel. For example, in a document-based app, your NSDocument subclass is usually responsible for displaying any Open and Save panels. In general, the object that presents the panel should also own the contents of the accessory view. With that in mind, the configuration of your nib file would be as follows:

Create a new nib file whose contents are a single view.
Set the File’s Owner of the nib file to the object that presents the panel.
Configure the contents of the nib file’s top-level view object.
- Add any subviews, such as checkboxes, that you want to include in the accessory view.
- You can change the class of the top-level view object if you want, but doing so is not required. If you use a generic view as the main view, the underlying panel provides the appropriate background appearance for the rest of your content.
Connect actions (as appropriate) to your views to facilitate interactions with your custom code. You should implement the action methods themselves in the object you assigned as File’s Owner.
Connect outlets (as appropriate) for any controls you use to gather data passively from the user. The completion handler for the panel can then use the outlets to access the data in the controls.
Size your accessory view to be as small as possible while still showing all subviews in their entirety.
Save the nib file.

When displaying an accessory view, the Open and Save panels show your entire accessory view. If your accessory view is larger than the panel itself, the panel grows to accommodate your view. If the panel grows too large, it could look strange or could cause problems on smaller screens. Most accessory views should have only a few controls anyway. So if you find yourself adding more than ten controls, you might want to consider whether an accessory view is appropriate or if there is a better way to gather the information.

For more detail on the process of building a user interface and creating and configuring interface builder files, see Xcode Help.

Loading and Configuring Your Accessory View at Runtime

Change Default App For File Type Mac

Immediately before displaying an Open or Save panel, load (or create) your accessory view and attach it to the panel using the setAccessoryView: method. If you create your accessory view programmatically, you normally create it right before presenting the panel itself. If you store your accessory view in a nib file, you load that nib file first.

Loading the nib file for an accessory view is relatively simple as long as the nib file itself is configured properly. The easiest way to configure the nib file is to assign the object that presents the panel as the File’s Owner of the nib file itself. That way, any outlets and actions defined on the object are connected automatically and ready to use as soon as the nib file is loaded into memory. Listing 5-5 shows an example of how this works. The method in this example is implemented on an NSDocument object. When called, the method presents an Open panel with an accessory view attached to the document’s main window. The accessory view itself contains a single checkbox that is connected to a custom optionCheckboxoutlet that the document object defines. (The outlet itself is implemented using a property. ) The handler block uses the value of the checkbox to determine how to open the file.

Listing 5-5 Loading a nib file with an accessory view

If you create your accessory view programmatically, replace the if statement containing the call to the loadNibNamed:owner: method with your custom view-creation code.

For more information on how to load objects from nib files, see Resource Programming Guide.

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