BrowserFairyBrowserFairy

Reference

Settings reference

Every setting in the General, Browser Launcher, Keyboard, Data Exchange, and BrowserFairy Pro panes.

This page lists every setting in the BrowserFairy Settings window, what each one does, its default, and where to read more. Use it when you know roughly what you want to change and just need to find the right control.

Open Settings

  1. Click the BrowserFairy icon in your menu bar (the status area at the top right of your screen).
  2. Choose Settings… from the menu, or press ⌘,.

The Settings window has a sidebar on the left with five panes, in this order: General, Browser Launcher, Keyboard, Data Exchange, and BrowserFairy Pro. Click any pane to open it. The sidebar stays visible, so you can move between panes freely. Each section below covers one pane.

General

The General pane holds the two most important settings, plus the optional Browser Profiles feature. It has two sections, Default Browser and Browser Profiles.

Default Browser

This section shows a status row that tells you whether BrowserFairy is set up to receive links from your other apps. You will see one of three states:

  • BrowserFairy is your default browser: everything is in order, and links from Mail, Slack, and other apps reach BrowserFairy.
  • BrowserFairy only handles some web links: a partial state, shown with an amber warning, where another browser still owns part of your web links. BrowserFairy must own both http and https links to route reliably.
  • BrowserFairy is not the default browser: macOS is still sending links straight to another browser.

In the partial and not-default states, you will see a Make Default button. Clicking it asks macOS to make BrowserFairy your default browser, and macOS shows its own confirmation dialog. Full walkthrough and fixes are in Set your default browser.

Fallback browser

Below the status is the Fallback browser popup, with the subtitle Opens links when no rule matches. This is where a link goes when none of your turned-on rules match it. The list includes every browser BrowserFairy found on your Mac, plus the Browser Launcher. By default this is set to whatever was your system default browser before you installed BrowserFairy. To learn how the fallback fits into matching, see How routing works.

Browser Profiles

The Browser Profiles section lets you route links into a specific profile, like Work or Personal. It has a toggle labeled Enable browser profiles, with the subtitle Route links to a specific browser profile (e.g. Work, Personal). This is a Pro feature, so on the free plan the toggle is disabled and shows a gold Pro badge that jumps to the BrowserFairy Pro pane.

Even with Pro, browser profiles need a one-time setup. You will see a Set Up button that walks you through granting access and running a small helper (a Copy Command and Open Terminal step). When it is done, the section reads Setup complete. Browser profiles are now enabled. A footer line, Supported browsers, lists the browsers that support profiles. Full instructions are in Browser profiles.

Settings > General. The default-browser status and Make Default button sit at the top, the Fallback browser popup below, and the Pro-gated Browser Profiles toggle at the bottom.

Browser Launcher

The Browser Launcher pane controls which browsers appear in the Browser Launcher and in what order. The list is headed Browsers shown in Browser Launcher. Drag to reorder.

  • To reorder a browser, drag its row up or down. The order here is the order the launcher shows, and the top nine positions get the number keys 1 to 9.
  • To add a browser, click the plus button and pick one from the menu of browsers you have not added yet.
  • To remove a browser, select its row and click the minus button.
  • Click Preview to pop open the live Browser Launcher and see your current list in action.

This list is just for the launcher

Removing a browser here only hides it from the Browser Launcher's hand-pick list. Your rules can still route links to any browser installed on your Mac, whether or not it appears in this list.

Settings > Browser Launcher. Drag rows to reorder, use plus and minus to add or remove browsers, and click Preview to see the launcher.

Keyboard

The Keyboard pane has two controls and a reset button. Both controls deal with the Browser Launcher. Full detail is in Keyboard shortcut and modifier key.

Browser Launcher modifier key

A popup with the subtitle Hold this key when clicking a link to always show Browser Launcher, even if a rule matches. Hold the chosen key while clicking a link, and BrowserFairy skips your rules and shows the launcher for that one link. The options are:

  • ⌥ Option
  • ⌘ Command
  • ⌃ Control
  • ⇧ Shift

The default is Option.

Browser launcher shortcut

A recorder with the subtitle Global shortcut to open Browser Launcher as a standalone browser picker. This is a system-wide shortcut that opens the launcher on its own, with no link attached, so you can pick a browser for a fresh window. The button shows Record when idle, Recording while you press a combination, and Clear to remove it. The default is ⌥⌘B. Clearing it turns the global shortcut off entirely.

Reset to defaults

A Reset to defaults… button below the two rows restores both controls at once: the modifier key back to Option and the shortcut back to ⌥⌘B.

Settings > Keyboard. The modifier key popup is on top, the global shortcut recorder below, and Reset to defaults restores both.

Data Exchange

The Data Exchange pane is where you back up and restore your rules. Both controls are Pro features and show a gold Pro badge on the free plan. Full detail is in Import and export rules.

  • Import rules, with the subtitle Load rules from a .bf backup file. The Import button opens a file picker that accepts .bf backup files and older .xml files. Importing merges into your existing rules rather than replacing them.
  • Export rules, with the subtitle Save rules to a .bf backup file. The Export button saves a .bf file, named like Rules-2026-06-14_09-30-00.bf, to your Documents folder by default.

Automatic backups happen too

Even without exporting by hand, BrowserFairy writes safety backups before risky changes, such as deleting rules or importing, and keeps the 10 most recent. See Import and export rules for how to find them.

Settings > Data Exchange. Import accepts .bf and .xml files and merges them in; Export writes a .bf file. Both are Pro features.

BrowserFairy Pro

The BrowserFairy Pro pane shows your subscription. What you see depends on whether you have subscribed. Full detail, including what each plan includes, is in Free and Pro.

If you have not subscribed

You see the paywall. It lists the three features Pro unlocks:

  • Unlimited Rules: No limit on the number of routing rules you can create.
  • Browser Profiles: Route links to a specific browser profile, like Work or Personal.
  • Import & Export: Back up your rules or transfer them to another Mac.

Pro also includes priority support. Below the features are two plans: Monthly (1 week free trial) and Annual (1 month free trial), which is marked Best Value and shows a per-month price. The Start Free Trial button begins your trial. At the bottom are four links: Restore, Terms, Privacy, and Support. Use Restore if you already subscribed on another Mac or device.

If you have subscribed

You see a thank-you state with your renewal status and a Manage button, which opens your Apple subscription settings so you can change or cancel your plan. Billing runs through Apple (the Mac App Store).

Settings > BrowserFairy Pro. Non-subscribers see the paywall with the three Pro features, the Monthly and Annual plans, and Start Free Trial; subscribers see their status and a Manage button.

Where to go next

If you came here to change a specific setting, follow the link beside that pane above for the full walkthrough. If you are still setting things up, Set your default browser and Create your first rule are the place to start.