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Browser Extensions

Browser extensions

Send the page you are already viewing to BrowserFairy, and how the handoff works.

Setting BrowserFairy as your default browser routes links you click in other apps, like Mail, Slack, and Messages. Extensions cover the one place that default routing cannot reach: links you click while you are already inside a browser. This page explains why extensions exist, what they add, and how the handoff to BrowserFairy works.

Why extensions exist

When you click a link in Mail or Slack, macOS hands it to your default browser, which is BrowserFairy, and BrowserFairy routes it using your rules. You can read more about that path in How routing works.

A link you click while you are already inside a browser is different. The browser opens it in its own window, and BrowserFairy never sees it. That is normal browser behavior, and it is exactly what extensions fix. A BrowserFairy extension adds a way to grab the page or link you are looking at and send it back to BrowserFairy, so it can route to a different browser instead.

Which browsers are supported

BrowserFairy works with five browsers, in two different ways:

  • Safari uses a built-in extension that ships inside the BrowserFairy app. There is nothing to download. You turn it on in Safari's settings. See The Safari extension for the exact steps.
  • Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera each install a small extension from that browser's own extension store. See Other browser extensions for the store links and how to add each one.

The two actions every extension adds

Once an extension is installed and on, it adds the same two actions in every supported browser. There is no keyboard shortcut and no options screen to configure.

Send the page you are viewing

Every extension adds a toolbar button labeled BrowserFairy. Click it to send the page you are currently looking at to BrowserFairy. Use this when you have already landed on a page and want to reopen it in a different browser.

Every extension also adds a right-click menu item on links labeled Open with BrowserFairy. Right-click any link on a page, choose Open with BrowserFairy, and that link is sent to BrowserFairy without opening it in the current browser first. Use this when you want to route a link before you visit it.

How the handoff works

The handoff is simple, and there is nothing extra to set up.

  1. You click the BrowserFairy toolbar button or choose Open with BrowserFairy on a link.
  2. The extension hands that link to the BrowserFairy app.
  3. BrowserFairy opens the Browser Launcher so you can pick which browser (and profile) to open it in.
After you send a page or link, BrowserFairy opens the Browser Launcher with the link ready, so you can pick a browser.

The only requirement is that BrowserFairy is installed and running on the same Mac. Because it is a menu bar app, you can confirm it is running by looking for its icon in the menu bar at the top right of your screen. If it is there, the extensions have somewhere to hand links to.

The extensions always open the Browser Launcher so you can choose by hand. If you would rather pick a browser with the keyboard or learn what every button does, see The Browser Launcher.

If nothing happens

If you click the BrowserFairy button or choose Open with BrowserFairy and nothing appears, the usual cause is that the BrowserFairy app is not installed or not running. Make sure the BrowserFairy icon is in your menu bar, then try again. See Troubleshooting for more.

Where to go next

Pick the page for the browser you use: