Choose the app that opens PDF files on your Mac

Why it happens

Every kind of file on your Mac has one default app, and a newly installed app can take over PDFs without asking. Preview is the default until something changes it. Get Info lets you set the app for every PDF at once.

How to fix it

1. Open Finder and click once on any PDF to select it.

2. Press Command-I, or choose File > Get Info, to open its Info window.

3. Find the Open with section and click its arrow if it's closed. Pick your PDF app from the pop-up menu. If it isn't listed, choose Other and find it in Applications.

4. Click Change All…, then click Continue when your Mac asks. Every PDF now opens in that app.

   Finder›File›Get Info›Open with›Change All…

5. Double-click a PDF to check it opens where you want.

Still not fixed?

1. Want a different app just once? Control-click the PDF, choose Open With and pick the app. Your default stays the same.

2. PDFs from websites open in a browser tab? That's the browser's own setting. Download the file and open it from Finder, and it uses your default app.

3. PDF attachments in Mail follow your Mac's default. If one still opens in the old app, quit Mail and open it again.

4. If the default keeps switching back, update your PDF app, or delete it and install it again, then repeat Change All….

5. If PDFs still won't stay with the app you chose after a restart, contact Apple Support.