In this tip, we’ll explain how to customize the ‘Open With’ menu on your Mac with new apps. You can also remove (duplicate) apps from this.
Customize ‘Open with’ menu
Experienced Mac users know the ability to open files with an app of their choice. That works with the ‘Open With’ menu on the Mac. You use this with the right mouse button. But did you know that you can also customize this list? For this, you use some Terminal commands. But be careful, because with Terminal you have to be careful what you enter.
Remove Duplicate Apps from Open With
Have you installed multiple versions of the same program on your Mac? Then it may happen that these all appear in the ‘Open with’ menu. This often occurs with apps that you install outside of the Mac App Store. In most cases you just want to use the latest version, so we’ll explain how to remove duplicates below. This only works with non-Apple apps.
- Open Terminal (installed by default).
- Enter the command below and press enter:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
- Wait for this process to finish. It may take a few minutes.
- Enter the command below and press enter:
killall Finder
Finder will now be forced to restart. Check if the duplicates are really gone by opening the menu again. If they are not gone, follow the steps below.
- Open Finder and click ‘Go’ in the menu bar while holding down the option/alt/ key and click Library.
- Open the folder called Preferences.
- Look for the file named com.apple.LaunchServices.plist and delete it.
- Close all running programs except Finder.
- Empty the Trash in your Dock.
Add app to ‘Open with’
Would you like to use a specific program to open a file, but it is not on the list? Don’t worry, you can add it. You have to be sure that the file in question is really suitable for the program you want to use. Be careful, because it is a precise job.
In this example, we explain how to make sure that Google Chrome appears in the list with MP3 files . You can replace the bold letters with a different app and file type.
- Open Finder and search for the Google Chrome app.
- Right-click on the app and select ‘ Show package content ‘.
- In this folder or folders, look for the file called Info.plist.
- Open the Info.plist file with TextEdit (installed by default).
- Look for a piece of code where and state. Put some blank lines in between and put the following text there:
CFBundleTypeExtensions
mp3
- Remove all spaces from these codes. Save and close the file.
- Open Terminal and enter the commands below one after the other:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -f /Applications/TextEdit.app/
killall Finder
Remove App from ‘Open with’
Do you keep coming across an app that you never want to use to open certain files? Then you can delete it. Pay close attention when performing these steps, as it is a precise job. In this example, we explain how to prevent Google Chrome from appearing in the ‘Open with’ menu on your Mac with JPG files. You can replace the bold letters with a different app and file type.
- Open Finder and search for the Google Chrome app.
- Right-click on the app and select ‘Show package content’.
- In this folder or folders, look for the file called Info.plist.
- Open the Info.plist file with TextEdit (installed by default).
- Search this file for the term CFBundleTypeExtensions. This is probably their several times.
- Search for this line until you see jpg and delete this line.
- Open Terminal and enter the killall Finder command.
