This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Running Firefox beta along side release - can I have macOS default to one of them?

macsonmacs
macsonmacs
more options

I'm running both versions of firefox on my mac by renaming the .app for nightly. However, when I click on a link on an application, it seems to default to my nightly version instead of release.

For both versions, the "default browser" setting is enabled. One thing I tried was letting chrome take the default again, and setting it from the release version after. Both versions then showed it checked again. I cannot uncheck it from the beta version.

It seems they might be reporting to the OS as the same app for this purpose.

Another thing I tried was changing the app name in it's Info.plist. Now, I see a new name in the menu bar and it shows as a distinct browser in the OS' "default browser" settings. However, it doesn't seem to solve my issue. All links still open in the Beta, even if the only one currently open is Release.


Is there a way to have it default to the normal version of firefox?

I'm running both versions of firefox on my mac by renaming the .app for nightly. However, when I click on a link on an application, it seems to default to my nightly version instead of release. For both versions, the "default browser" setting is enabled. One thing I tried was letting chrome take the default again, and setting it from the release version after. Both versions then showed it checked again. I cannot uncheck it from the beta version. It seems they might be reporting to the OS as the same app for this purpose. Another thing I tried was changing the app name in it's Info.plist. Now, I see a new name in the menu bar and it shows as a distinct browser in the OS' "default browser" settings. However, it doesn't seem to solve my issue. All links still open in the Beta, even if the only one currently open is Release. Is there a way to have it default to the normal version of firefox?

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

macsonmacs said
I cannot uncheck it from the beta version.

You may need to try it this way:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox. The moderators would like us to remind you that changes made through this back door aren't fully supported and aren't guaranteed to continue working in the future.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste browser.shell.checkDefaultBrowser and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the preference to switch the value from true to false

Hopefully with Beta quiet, Release will be able to reassert itself.

Note: the foregoing assumes that Release and Beta use different profiles.

Helpful?

Ask a question

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.