Set What App a Document Opens With

In this video, we’re going to look at how we can set what app, what application a document opens up in; as an example, let’s say you have an image. You want to open that up in Pixelmator Pro, which is like Photoshop. Well, by default, it’s going to open up in the preview app. So how do we tell it to open up in Pixelmator Pro, or maybe you have a PDF it’s opening up in Adobe Acrobat reader.

You want it to open it up in Preview? It’s much faster in Preview. So how do we tell those documents to open up in Spanish? If it apps? Well, let’s find out; let’s go to my Mac. I’m looking at a folder here full of images. If we go over to this image here and I selected, if I were to open this up, what it would do is it would open up in the preview app.

This is the default behavior for them. So I double click on it. And we can see it opened up in the preview app if I had a PDF. It would do when I double click on that by default is it would open up in the preview app. Well, what I want to do is I want to change what app a specific document opens up with.

Now we have a few different options to do this. I find the easiest way to do this is to control, click on this. We get our contextual menu. When I hold down the control key, and I click on it. This is what I mean by we get our contextual menu. Now from here, what I can do is I can go to open width, and I can select what app I want this image to open up.

And again, by default, it’s going to open up in Preview, but I wanted to open up in Pixelmator Pro. So now I select this, and now we can see it opened up in Pixelmator Pro. Now we’ll only change this behavior. This one time, I’m going to quit here. And if I were to double click on this image again, what it would do is it would open back up in the preview app.

I want to open it up and pixel a pro. Again, what I have to do is I have to open up my contextual menu. So I hold down the control key, and I click on it. And then I go over to open width, and then I select Pixelmator Pro. I can do the same thing with a PDF. I can do the same thing with a movie. I have a movie here.

I control, click on it to get to my contextual menu. I say open width. And by default, it’s going to open up in the QuickTime player, but I can select a different app to open it up in. I want to open it up in the TV app. I select this, and it’ll open up in the TV app. But again, it’s not going to remember this the next time I go and open this up; it’s going to open back up and QuickTime player.

What we can do with the Mac. As we can permanently change this behavior, we can do this per document, or we can do a per document type. To change it for the specific document. In other words, what I want to do is I want to have just this image open up and Pixelmator Pro while this image here below it, I want it to open up in the default preview app.

All of my other images on my Mac. I want them to open up in the preview app. I only want this particular document, this particular image, to open up and Pixelmator Pro. To do that, we go back to our contextual menu. I control-click on it. And then we go over to get info. When I select this, we have a new window that opens up, and then I consent what I wanted to open up with this specific document.

So now I select Pixelmator Pro, and I close this window. So now, when I open up this document, By default. What it’s going to do is it’s going to open it up in Pixelmator Pro. It will no longer open it up in the preview app. But if I were to double click on this document here, this image here, it’s going to open up in the preview app.

If I were to double click on this document here, it would open up in the preview app, but I go back to this document here. It’s going to open it up in Pixelmator Pro. I can also set all of these types of documents. This is a JPEG document. I want all of my JPEGs to open up Pixelmator Pro to do that; we go back to our get info window.

So I have to open up my contextual menu again. I hold down the control key and click on it. We get our contextual menu. I go back over to get info. We go back over to open width. You’re going to see that this is already set to open up with Pixelmator Pro. But now what I want to do is I want to change all of these types of documents to open up and Pixelmator Pro.

So now, I click on change all. I confirm this. When I close this window and let’s say I were to open up this document here, what it’s going to do is open up in Pixelmator Pro. If it’s a JPEG, it will no longer open up in the preview app. I quit out of here. I go over to December each year, double click on it.

It opens up in Pixelmator Pro. I want to open it up in the preview app. I hold down the control key and click go to open width, and I can open this up with the Preview app. I want to change the behavior for all of them. Then I go back over to my good info. I go to open with I select Preview. I change all.

Confirm it. And now when I double click on this image here remembered, opened up in Pixelmator Pro, I double click on it. It opens up in Preview. I double click on this image here. Remember opened up in Pixelmator Pro it opens up in Preview. And again, we can do this with all kinds of document types. If I have a PDF, I can tell all my PDFs to open up in Acrobat Reader. If they’re opening up an Acrobat Reader, I can tell them to open up and Preview.

If I have a word processing document by default, they’re going to open up in pages. I want to have them open up Word or vice versa. Maybe they’re by default, all set to open up in Word. I want to open them up in pages. All I have to do is select the document. I get info on that document, and then I can change what app that.

A particular document opens up with, or all the documents of that type will open up with. So that’s how we consent. What a document opens up with, or which app a document opens up with on the Mac.