How can I always open certain URLs/domains in certain browsers?

Question

My main browser is Firefox, so I want most URLs to open there when I've clicked on them from Thunderbird. But I want to look at Google+ in Chrome, where it's faster; likewise a few other JavaScript-heavy sites.

Is there some way to hijack the Mac's "default browser" launcher so that it will parse the URL and route the request to my favorite browser for that URL? I can think of three ways this might happen:

Create a Mac app that acts as the default browser that does nothing but go launch another browser, depending on the URL;
Set Firefox as my default browser, and use some extension (like the discontinued Safari View or Open In Safari, or the windows-only Chrome View or IE View) to redirect specific URLs to Chrome;
- Set Chrome as my default browser, and use some equivalent extension to redirect specific URLs (including a wildcard URL) to Firefox.

Any ideas?

If you came to this page looking for a Window-based answer, see this other question: http://superuser.com/questions/384637/specific-browser-for-specific-links — GreenGiant, Dec 29 '16 at 21:52

score 11 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 22 '12 at 14:20

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Choosy does exactly this (among other things).

Forget the default browser, Choosy opens links in the right browser. When you click on a link Choosy will do the right thing, whether that's something simple (like using whatever browser is already running) or something complex (like prompting you to pick a browser, but only when you hold down the shift key and click on a link to google.com).

edited Oct 22 '12 at 14:20

slhck

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answered Oct 22 '12 at 00:15

Bob Earth

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I wish there was a utility like this for Windows. – BoffinBrain Aug 30 '17 at 10:37
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there is a open source free alternatives available – skywinder Nov 18 '20 at 08:47

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 31 '20 at 15:44

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There is an open source app for macOS called "Finicky".

answered Mar 31 '20 at 15:44

noname

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Please read [How do I recommend software](https://meta.superuser.com/questions/5329/how-do-i-recommend-software-in-my-answers/5330#5330) for some tips as to how you should go about recommending software. You should provide at least a link, some additional information about the software itself, and how it can be used to solve the problem in the question. – DavidPostill Mar 31 '20 at 17:44

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 22 '21 at 15:10

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If you are looking for something that lets you pick the browser to activate in a graphical interface, check out Browserosaurus by Will Stone, an open source browser prompter for macOS. It works really well together with Finicky (that mentioned in the other answer.

edited Apr 22 '21 at 15:10

Will Stone

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answered Nov 18 '20 at 08:46

skywinder

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This is the best out of all. And it is free and open source. – Chuma Umenze Oct 29 '22 at 18:59

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 30 '23 at 18:22

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I made a free app called Velja to solve this problem. It also includes built-in handling of opening some URLs in their desktop apps and removing tracking parameters from URLs. You can find a comparison with Choosy and Browserosaurus here.

answered Apr 30 '23 at 18:22

Sindre Sorhus

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How can I always open certain URLs/domains in certain browsers?

4 Answers4

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