BrowserFairy is a small Mac app that decides which browser opens each link. You set up rules once, and from then on a work link can open in Chrome, a personal link in Safari, a localhost link in your dev browser, and anything else in a browser you choose. These docs walk you through every part of the app, step by step, with pictures of the real interface.

Install and first launchDownload BrowserFairy from the Mac App Store and find it in your menu bar.Set your default browserThe one setting BrowserFairy needs so it can route links from every app.Create your first ruleSend your first kind of link to the browser where it belongs.TroubleshootingLinks opening in the wrong place, default-browser problems, and extensions.

How BrowserFairy works

BrowserFairy makes itself your Mac's default browser. It is not a browser you read web pages in. Instead, when you click a link in Mail, Slack, Notes, a calendar, or any other app, macOS hands that link to BrowserFairy first. BrowserFairy looks at your rules, finds the first one that matches, and opens the link in the browser that rule points to. If no rule matches, the link opens in a fallback browser you choose.

You manage all of this in the rules editor, opened from the BrowserFairy menu bar icon. Each rule is a plain-language sentence: open this kind of link with that browser.

GitHub

Open link with

Google Chromein profileGlobex | alex.riverawhen

Anyof the following are true

Link addressbegins withhttps://github.com/

Link addressbegins withhttps://gist.github.com

The rules editor. Each rule routes a kind of link to a specific browser, and you can open any rule to see how it is built.

What BrowserFairy can route

BrowserFairy handles normal http:// and https:// web links that macOS sends to your default browser. A rule can match on two things:

The link address itself, such as a link that contains figma.com or begins with https://mail.google.com.
The app the link was clicked in, so every link opened from Slack can go to one browser while the same link from Mail goes to another.

It can also expand short links (like a bit.ly address) before matching, so a rule for the final destination still works. You will learn exactly how all of this behaves in How routing works.

Two ways to open a browser

BrowserFairy gives you both automatic and manual control:

Rules open links automatically, with no clicks. This is the main way to use BrowserFairy.
The Browser Launcher is a pop-up that lets you pick a browser (and profile) by hand for a one-off link, or hold a key while clicking to choose every time. See Browser Launcher.

Find your way around

New here? Start with Install and first launch, then Set your default browser, then Create your first rule.
Want to understand matching? Read How routing works and the Conditions reference.
Looking for setup ideas? Copy from Rule recipes.
Comparing plans? See Free and Pro.
Need a specific setting? Use the Settings reference.

Where to get help

If the docs do not answer your question, contact us from the Contact page. It helps to include the link you clicked, the browser you expected, the browser that actually opened, and the rule you thought should have matched.