How to Set or Change Default Apps on Android (Browser, Phone, Messages)

You want to choose which app Android uses automatically — which browser opens links, which app makes calls, which app sends texts.

Why: Android lets one app be the default for each job. If you tapped “Always” on the wrong app once, or installed a new browser, you can change it in one place. On Pixel some steps need Android 14 or later.

Settings paths vary by maker (Samsung One UI vs Pixel). Wording below follows Google’s Pixel and Android docs.

Step 1: Change a default app in Settings

This is the main screen where every default lives.

1. Open Settings > Apps > Default apps (Samsung: Settings > Apps, tap the three dots menu, then Default apps).
2. Tap the category you want to change — for example Browser app, Phone app, SMS app, or Digital assistant app.
3. Tap the app you want to use by default. The change takes effect right away.

Step 2: Set a default when Android asks

Sometimes the choice pops up the first time you tap a link or action.

1. When the “Open with” prompt appears, tap the app you want.
2. Tap Always to make it the permanent default, or Just once to use it this one time only.

Choosing Just once means Android will keep asking; Always makes it the default until you change it.

Step 3: Clear a default you set by mistake

If an app keeps opening when you’d rather be asked, clear its default and Android will prompt you again next time.

1. Open Settings > Apps and tap the app that’s grabbing the action (for example the browser you no longer want).
2. Tap Open by default.
3. Tap Clear default preferences (wording may read Clear defaults).

Next time you do that action, Android shows the “Open with” prompt again so you can pick fresh.

FAQ

My new browser won’t open links even though I installed it. Set it in Settings > Apps > Default apps > Browser app. Installing an app doesn’t make it the default on its own.

Google Messages keeps asking to be the default. Open Messages, follow its prompt, or go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > SMS app and pick it. Only one app can be the default SMS app at a time.

Where is “Default apps” on Samsung? It’s under Settings > Apps, then the three-dot menu > Default apps — a slightly different path from Pixel’s Settings > Apps > Default apps.

Some options are greyed out. A few default choices (like the digital assistant or some carrier apps) need a specific Android version — on Pixel some steps need Android 14 or later — or aren’t changeable on managed/work phones.

Sources: Pixel Phone Help — Set or clear default apps on your Pixel phone or Pixel Tablet, Android Help — Learn how to change your default browser