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How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook?

Alex Schenker Updated: December 19, 2017 Web Browser 82 Comments

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Recently I was trying to figure out how do I set a default for my Outlook browser if I want it to be different from the auto-programmed Internet Explorer. Are you also wondering how to change default browser in Outlook and would like these links to open in your favorite browser, Firefox for example? Here are a few ways to make this change.

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Windows 7

Type “default programs” in the Start menu (bottom left of your screen) search box. This should bring up a screen that will let you select program defaults as well as default file types. You’ll want to set your favorite web browser as the default, which should force it to open your email links. If that still doesn’t work, select “Associate a file type or protocol with a program” and associate “”URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol” with your web browser of choice. Repeat for file types “HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy” and FTP.

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Windows XP

Open Explorer (any folder in Windows XP)
Select Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types
Click on an entry and type “URL” to jump down to the file type “URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol” (Extensions: None)
Click Advanced -> Edit File Type -> Open -> Edit
Clear the check (no check) for DDE and click OK

Repeat the above steps for file types “HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy” and FTP.

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Firefox 5+

Browse to Firefox (orange button in top left corner) > Options > Advanced > General tab > check “Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on startup” (under the “System Defaults” section). You can also click the “Check Now” button to perform an immediate check. Finally, you can also visit Options > Applications to set application defaults for individual programs.

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Firefox 3.5+

As one of our readers pointed out, a simpler method to set Firefox as your default browser is to open Firefox, then browse to Tools -> Options -> “Main” tab. At the bottom, you’ll see an area labeled “System Defaults.” Click on the “Check Now” button. This will perform a check to see if Firefox is set to be your default browser. If it’s not, you’ll be given the option to make it the default.

Troubleshooting

If you still can’t get any of this to work to change default browser in Outlook, please comment below and we’ll do our best to help! Have other issues? Check out our other troubleshooting articles.

Do you use Outlook for your email?

About The Author: Alex Schenker

Alex has been involved on the business side of the internet since the early 2000's. He holds both a Management Science degree from the University of California at San Diego as well as a Computer Science degree from NJIT.

We Rock Your Web had its roots back in 2004 as the tech blog for a web design and development company Alex founded that has grown and evolved into the parent company of We Rock Your Web.

While his foundation is rooted in web development, his expertise today lies in content and digital marketing, SEO, organic and paid search, analytics, and publishing. Alex is an avid tennis player, nature enthusiast, and hiker, and enjoys spending time with his wife, friends, and dogs.

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Jeff

Thanks, it worked.

Paulos

great!! thanks a lot

Roger David

Does it work today in 2019 also? I’m going to try this in 2019. Let’s see if it works or not and I’ll post the update about if it worked or not. I’ll post here only.

Melinda Wells

I looked at the list provided for “Associate a file type or protocol with a program” and “URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol” was not included in the listing. I have Windows 7.

Diana Still

Thanks so much for “How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Windows XP”. I’ve been trying to change this via the normal route with no success, but now it’s fixed!

doug

I am running Win10 with Outlook 2010. I did the Edge install months ago, and recently uninstalled IE11 since I was not using it, and did not like how sometimes it was getting launched on embedded links. I also figured why have two web browsers installed from the same author. Sort of like having both 32 and 64 bit versions of Firefox installed. Anyways back to the issue, ever since doing that I am unable to open web links in emails inside Outlook 2010. I get that stupid error “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.” This is my home computer, I am retired, and living alone. This all means that I am my “system administrator”. Contacting myself did nothing to alleviate the issue. I know what caused it, I just need to know how to tell Outlook 2010 to use a different web browser for embedded URLs. All the online fixes seem to require IE to be installed. I have Edge installed, why do I need IE11 as well? I can’t be the only person that has done this, for the same reason, I am simply not that unique. Other than reinstalling IE11 and putting up with it opening web links in my emails using IE11 instead of Edge, how can I get one Microsoft app to talk to another Microsoft app, without an outdated Microsoft app installed as well?

Robert

Strugling bad, trying to get away from chrome becouse it’s no longer supported on this lg smart tv and I keep geting alerts and warnings how chome is out of date and when I try to change things out I run into A wall.

changingdefaultbrowser

worked like a charm for firefox, thanks!

Mike

I want to change the “default browser” for Outlook (2010). Chrome is already my default browser and links in emails open in Chrome. But if I open an email itself, it opens in IE. (Move group of the ribbon on a message, More Move Actions –> View in Browser.. The tooltip claims that this will open in my default browser but opens in IE.)

And obviously, I don’t want to associate the .msg file type with Chrome…

Patricia

Can you please tell me where to find what you’re telling me to select. Please be detailed as I am not all that computer savvy.: select “Associate a file type or protocol with a program” and associate “”URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol” with your web browser of choice. Repeat for file types

Lil

To launch links sent to your email with Google Chrome, try this. Click on Start at the bottom left corner of your monitor screen. Select Control Panel (right side of popup). Look for Default programs. Click on Associate a file type or protocol with a program. In the box, under Protocols, scroll down and look for HTTP. Click on it and select Google Chrome. Click Ok. Now select HTTPS, Click and select Google Chrome followed by Ok. Hope that works out for you.

Omer

Thanks! work’s great for win7

Kimberly Alt (Admin)

Happy we could help!

harcar2001

I don’t want to change my default browser on the whole, just for the links I click on in emails. Any way to do that? Thanks 🙂

Nixon Virtual Strategies

Thank you! Same here. I’m not a tech newbie and for the life of me, I hate that when I click a link in email it goes to IE. I don’t use IE ever unless I’m checking views of sites in different browsers. I’m using Win 10.

Paul Stafford

Me too, but I have one browser configured for a proxy, and one without. I want the browser WITHOUT the proxy to be opened whenever I click a link in Outlook, and the browser WITH the proxy to be the default any other time.

DeAnna

Thanks, I got it to work for being the most non-computer person around!

rememberSCSI?

In Win7, the Control Panel “Default Programs” is where you want to go. For me, however, “Set your default programs” was a bust because the programs listed there did not include most of the many non-MS programs I have installed, including Firefox.

Going into “Associate a file type…” I was able to associate .htm and .html to FF. In the same window, I scrolled down to Protocols, but could not change the association for FTP or HTTP because the Change Program dialog only displayed IE and did not have a button to browse for other programs. Anyone know a hack for this?

eddyj

Thanks, that’s a brilliant tip.

vetiarvi

Awesome. In Win 7 just click the top link in “Default programs” and then go to “Chrome” and click on the “Set this program as default”

kaydeel

I changed my defaults all to Chrome, but was still getting IE opening when clicking on a link from Office Depot. It was a mhtml file and it will not open in Chrome, as the file type is saved from IE. I changed it over to Chrome default for .mhtml and .mht but the page would not open at all. I had to switch it back to IE.

Just be careful when you are changing the default programs under “Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program” because some file types are specific to the browser. the .mhtml and .mht are the only ones I’ve found so far, but I’m sure there are more.

Linda Fair

What about Windows 10?

Jenny Down The Block

Thanks for the help with this! You solved a challenge in 2 minutes that I couldn’t solve in 3 days. 🙂

Ashley

Any idea how to change it from opening in Microsoft Edge and have it open in Internet Explorer in Windows 10? Thanks!

Jocelyn

THANK YOU!!!!!!! I was sick of clicking on links in my Outlook inbox and it opening automatically in Internet Explorer—finally through your help got it to open ONLY in Chrome!!!

Kimberly Alt (Admin)

Yay! So happy to hear it worked for you Jocelyn!

Cher Paganelli

I used the recommend fix for Windows 7. I did have to use the second part of the fix and find: the “Associate a file type or protocol with a program”, it’s there and it worked great. Thanks.

Kimberly Alt (Admin)

Glad it worked for you!

VerySmartGIrl

I’m not sure which Windows 7 you are using… but there’s no such place as:

If that still doesn’t work, select “Associate a file type or protocol with a program” and associate “URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol” with your web browser of choice. Repeat for file types “HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy” and FTP.

Arivazhagan A

Change the way it opens under:

Control Panel-> All Control Panel Items ->Default Programs

Set program access and computer defaults

custom -> choose default web browser and click your favorite one. For example, Chrome, IE, Firefox etc.

Ebone

This worked! Thank you so much 🙂

Alex Hamer

This worked for me, thanks! (I was using Chrome as Default, but links in Outlook were opening in Firefox, very annoying! They now open in Chrome!)

Kimberly Alt (Admin)

Glad this worked for you Alex! Thank you for posting about your success!

anant mitra

I can’t find “URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol” in the above mentioned. There is only “URL:internet shortcut”. I’m using Windows XP servicepack3.

Kimberly Alt (Admin)

Try going to Start/Run and type: REGSVR32 URLMON.DLL

Then open Internet Explorer, Tools menu, Options, Program Tab, and click “Reset Web Settings” button.

Does it appear now for you?

anant mitra

Yes, now it’s appearing and I had successfully changed its default to Firefox, but not through the above mentioned way. Thanks!

Kimberly Alt (Admin)

Glad we found a solution for you Anant! Thank you for letting me know that this way works. I’m sure it will help another Outlook user!

Dave

Thank you so much!!!! I had a couple of bugs from a malware that I deleted and the above fixed my problem of links in Outlook would open putty window instead of IE.
Thanks…

Guest

Am I the only person who has issues with Outlook? I’ve been using computers since I was in high school. I’m in my late 30’s now. (Yes, I was around when the Commodore 64 was a big deal.) In all the time I’ve been using the Internet I’ve never been able to use Outlook. In fact, I don’t even try to any more. I don’t even know what the benefits of using it at all would be. Maybe I can send emails without having to cut and paste the email address into the actual email that I use? I mean, I think the only time this even comes up is when I click on the “contact us” button on someone’s website or maybe Craigslist. Other than that I have no idea what it can do.

Maybe I’m missing out on something. Since there seems to be an issue with using browsers other than Internet Explorer, which I don’t use, I can’t see where this would be of any use for me. I’m not trying to detract from the article though. I love the way you put it in simple terms and easy steps to follow. I guess the program just isn’t for me.

a web rocker

hey guys.. my case is a little bit different from the others. My email’s links are being opened normally in my default browser (which is chrome), but the problem is my RSS feeds are being opened on IE. This is so weird. I am using outlook 2010

Could u please help me out? thanks anyways!

Anonymous

Thanks. Silly Outlook somehow was linked to Chrome (which I never use). Much happier to have it linked to Firefox now.

James

Figuring out how to change the default browser in Outlook from IE to Chrome has been bugging me for quite some time now, your instructions totally did the trick, thank you! (NOTE: I’m using Windows 7). One small piece of advice for anyone having trouble: once you’ve pulled up “Set Default Programs”, click on Google Chrome in the left viewing field, then select “Choose defaults for this program” (instead of “Set this program as default”) at the bottom right. Then click on “Select All” toward the top left of the window which opens, that way ALL of your web defaults related to Outlook (and other programs) are set to Chrome. Thanks again! James

Kimberly Alt

James, thank you so much for reading and commenting! I’m so glad the article helped you out and thank you for writing some suggestions in your comment. They will be very helpful to our readers!

-Kimberly

Anonymous

Awesome, this is exactly what I needed. I was so tired of having my computer decide what browser links should open in (especially when I already had one open and it constantly insisted on starting a new browser session, which would subsequently slow down my PC).

Anonymous

Fixed my problem of accessing URL links from Outlook. Not sure what removed the function in the first place. Happy I have it back though. Thanks.

Anonymous

First, make sure that IE and Outlook are closed. Then, in Chrome, click on the settings icon (wrench) and go to “Options.” Once there, click on “Make Google Chrome my default browser.”

CyberGhosT

We were doing this for Firefox.

Why would we switch to a substandard browser like Chrome?

Anonymous

Thanks a lot for this tip! Very useful!

Anonymous

I currently have Firefox set as my default web browser. I currently use Outlook 2010 for email. When I click a link within an email it opens in Internet Explorer 8. I tried “The Solution” above but when I access ‘Tools’, ‘Folder Options’ is not an option. PLEASE HELP!

Alex Schenker

Hi there, we’ve updated the article to include the latest O/S (Windows 7) and version of Firefox (5). To answer your question, in Windows, type “default programs” in the Start search box. You’ll be taken to a page where you can set program defaults as well as file type defaults. You should be able to follow the remainder of the instructions above from here, but if you get stuck, please post back! Either way, let us know how it goes.

Anonymous

Thank you so much – very helpful. I had the same problem – when I used to open links in Outlook it used to open them in Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. After setting Firefox as the default program it works alright.

Anonymous

I know how to make Firefox my default browser. But, my default browser is Avant, instead of Firefox.

Anonymous

It’s also possible doing it the following way. Open Firefox Tools -> Options -> “Main” tab. At the bottom you see an area “System Defaults”. Click on the “Check Now” button. It is then asked if Firefox has to be your default browser…

Anonymous

The solution to set Firefox as the default browser within Firefox worked, all other techniques failed.

Thanks for the solution, friend!!

Anonymous

‘System Defaults’ is now located in Advanced tab….Worked well and much easier. Thanks!

Anonymous

If you want to set the default browser to IE…

* Open IE
* Go to Tools > Internet Options > Programs
* Click the ‘Make default’ button

Anonymous

For me, the url settings did nothing, but changing the htm and html file settings fixed it…

Anonymous

I repeatedly changed the default to Mozilla Firefox, even rebooted, made sure it said Mozilla Firefox, checked to make sure Firefox itself thought it was the default browser, but links inside Outlook still opened in IE.

I had to use the File Type procedures above to change the program called from the URL for the file types listed. When I did that, clicking on a link inside Outlook finally opened a tab inside Firefox.

Anonymous

Example, open Firefox> Tools> Options> Check to see if Firefox is default> Set as Default? The hyper links in outlook should now open with Firefox.

Outlook Setting

You can manually set the default browser by selecting it as the the default program for individual file types and protocols.

a web rocker

I think, if you take a look at the associated file types in whatever browser your browsed emails are opening in, (START, SEARCH ‘default programs’) that there are certain file types that are listed which cannot be opened with Firefox.

To change specific ones go to | START | and in the search box TYPE ‘Association’ | SELECT ‘Make a file type always open in a specific program’ | ARRANGE the list by program by clicking the ‘Current Default’ column | Find the unwanted associations and change them to your chosen browser.

As a heads up, the files which Firefox wasn’t being associated with in my setup were:

.mht, .mhtml, .partial, .svg, .url and .website

Some of these may not open with firefox, so it’s an idea to research them first as I haven’t

8chbomb

OK, I’ve set my default browser to Chrome, and I’ve associated all file types and protocols with Chrome. Still, no dice!

I’m about to uninstall IE, or throw my machine out the window (both of which are probably bad). Before I go there, does anyone have any suggestions other than the ones listed here?

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful consideration.

Len D'Alberti

… throw Windows out the window

seriously, replace your Windows install with just about any flavor of Linux and you’ll be a happier human being for it; if you can afford it, switch to OSX (Mac).

Ronny

Look to see what version of IE you have installed. I FireFox for browsing, however, Outlook uses IE for html emails. If you have anything later than IE 9 installed, unistall any IE updates until you are back to IE 9. Hope this fixes your problem.

Kimberly Alt

Thanks for helping out a fellow reader Ronny!

Doktor_O

When I use Outlook on my local machine, it correctly opens links in my default browser, which is Firefox. When I use OWA inside IE (web based outlook), it forces my links to open in IE, even though my default browser is Firefox. I feel that OWA is somehow corrupting my links, effectively taking control of my incoming mail and editing it to Microsoft’s liking. Is that legal?

Paul d'Aoust

That’s proper behaviour, actually — if you used Gmail or Hotmail in Internet Explorer, links within e-mails would open in Internet Explorer as well. It’s just the way web browsers work; if you click on a link, it’ll always use the same web browser as the page the link was on — in this case, the OWA web page, which you’re viewing in IE.

Peter

Thank you so much – this worked perfectly

I have been having night,ares with IE not opening properly from Outlook and it was very frustrating. Think it is crazy that you have to do something so complicated in windows xp to change this.

I can not thank you enough :o)

Adam

Thank you very much – worked perfectly!

Phil

Thanks for this – big help.

I have Firefox (ver 9) set as my default on work machine (Win XP + Outlook 2007), but for whatever reason opening links from Outlook always used IE. Interestingly at home (win XP + Outlook 2010) I’ve never had the problem. Making FF my default changed Outlook as well.

Cheers!

josephbrown012

Thanks for this post, I will try this.

irfan

Thank you thank you I’m very glad to follow this thing..

Now i can open my outlook as a default….

once again thank you thank you thank you thank you soooooooooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………….

Darkflame

I’m on Windows 7 using corporate e-mail via Outlook OWA 2010 and despite setting all the options above, I cannot get web outlook (that’s open in IE) to open links in another browser.

Frustrating! I do hate Microsoft sometimes, they need to realize their browser is crap and always will be.

Paul d'Aoust

Actually, that’s the way it’s supposed to work, and OWA has no control over which web browser opens up links in its e-mails. If you used Gmail or Hotmail in Internet Explorer, links within e-mails would open in Internet Explorer as well. It’s just the way web browsers work; if you click on a link, it’ll always use the same web browser as the page the link was on — in this case, the OWA web page, which you’re viewing in IE.

frustrated

Is it possible to set the default browser for links opened from within Outlook to Internet Explorer while keeping the default browser for the system set to Chrome?

The reason is that, at work, most URLs that come to Outlook are internal and require IE, but I want to use Chrome for all links outside Outlook….

Anonymous

Many people are confused about how to get outlook to work properly with browsers other than Internet Explorer. This is a question which is posted all over a number of forums relating to computer questions and issues. Therefore, I think this is an excellent article since it provides different ways to help solve this problem.

The main issue is that of company control. Microsoft created the outlook program and they want to make sure that it stays theirs and that it is compatible with there other programs. In other words, they have set the default browser as IE. This means that every time you click on a link from your inbox (or outbox) it will open in a MS IE browser.

Personally, I am glad to see such an article, since it is a very common complaint or question about outlook. This is a nice reference which I can give to clients that means less demands on my time for something which they can easily fix themselves, even without having any kind of technical background. I like anything that makes life easier for me!

some guy

Outlook defaults to whatever is the default browser for the computer. IE is the default because it ships with windows. When your other browser asks, “Do you want to make this the default browser?”, and you answer yes, your system default changes to that new browser and Outlook looks there instead.

Seriously, let’s all jump on the we hate Microsoft bandwagon because they are oh so evil.

a web rocker

My computer does basically what that guy wants and I hate it. Outlook opens everything in Chrome even though I have IE set as default. Sorry, I like IE. I have uninstalled chrome and now outlook doesn’t know how to open any links. How to you assign a default for outlook so that it opens all the links in IE like every other program on the computer?

Earp

Actually, 2007 seems to have a bug where no matter what browser you make the default, your links don’t open in anything but IE.

So, in this case, the Microsoft hate bandwagon is well justified.

Anonymous

Many people do not like their Internet Explorer browser. Actually, many people do not like Microsoft at all! Personally, I am not in either of these camps. However, as a computer repair technician it is certainly an issue which I am familiar with and hear many arguments both for and against on a regular basis. This also means that many people do not like the fact that their Outlook email program has configured IE as the default browser. In other words, every time you click on a link in your email, it will be opened using IE.

This is an excellent article since it provides the methods to change this. In other words, you can re configure Outlook to use a different browser as the default. There are methods given which will work for either Windows 7 or Windows XP. After trying both of them on my different machines, I can conclude that they definitely work and will help to solve your issues.

The article also includes a number of additional tips. These are simply ways to make sure that several versions of the Firefox browser is configured properly for your computer system.

Anonymous

Question,

Will this work for Outlook 2003?

Is it possible to have a ‘choice’ of browsers, rather than either / or?

What I would like to find is a way to customize the context menu when doing a right click on the hyperlink. It would be nice to have the choice of opening whatever browser you choose at that point?

Is this ‘easily’ doable?

Thanks for your help.

alexc

Hi there,

It’s probably possible using Windows/ Outlook programming or a third party utility. I haven’t heard of such a feature but will post back if I do.

Cheers 🙂

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook?

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Windows 7

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Windows XP

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Firefox 5+

How Do I Set Default Browser for Outlook on Firefox 3.5+

Troubleshooting

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