OS X is fantastic, and I cherish the power of the iLife suite and other default applications that came with my Mac. But some apps, like Preview or Mail, I don't use on a day-to-day basis. In fact, I've replaced them with Adobe Acrobat and Sparrow, but when I write an emall or open a photo, these default apps still launch. Fortunately, there's a way to get rid of them and replace them with applications I'd rather have launch instead.
You can easily delete applications by literally deleting them from the Applications folder or LaunchPad, or you can use a utility app called Hazel. (These other disk sweeping alternatives work just as well: AppTrap, AppZapper, and CleanGenius Free.)
Besides providing some awesome actions for your Mac, which we've covered before, Hazel also allows you to do an "App Sweep" and delete files that may be left behind after you delete an application. Once you installed Hazel, go to System Preferences > Hazel > Trash > and check "Enable App Sweep" and check the "Enable multi-user sweep" to make sure all of these files go away with the application.
Once you've enabled this, when you drag an application to the Trash a dialog window will pop up asking if you'd like to also remove the application's support files to the Trash. Say yes, of course.
Alright, finally you got Preview off of your Mac. Now all you need to do it set a new default. Let's say you want to open PSDs with Preview instead of Adobe Photosop.
Look for the Open With section toward the bottom of the window and select an app in the drop-down option menu. Once you've selected your application, click "Change All..." and now all files like this will open up in Preview!
Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow this article's author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.
kcartesius
July 08, 2012 at 6:47am
Hazel seems like a cool tool, but the fundamental problem isn't really addressed here; how to change a default app directly, and not via preferences for document types.
When you, say, install a new browser and start it for the first time, it usually asks if you want to make it your default browser. Exactly how this is done on the Darwin level is unclear to most, but all basic apps should have an option in the Preferences, like Safari, for example:
Preferences; General; Default web browser
