Don't want Brave as default browser, but it keeps nagging

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Description of the issue:
How can this issue be reproduced?

  1. Launch Brave
  2. A bar appears at the top of the window prompting to make Brave the default browser
  3. Click on the X button

Expected result:

Brave takes the hint and does not ask me again. The prompt is also removed from the top of the hamburger menu.

Alternatively, a “don’t ask me again” button could be provided which has the same effect.

Brave Version( check About Brave):

Version 1.73.104 Chromium: 131.0.6778.204 (Official Build) (arm64)

Additional Information:

The more Brave nags me, the closer it gets to being permanently uninstalled.

(Also, copying the Brave version into this report would be much easier with a “copy to clipboard” button in the About screen!)

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An additional note: Brave comes with a built-in adblocker. It recognises that people don’t want to be continually bothered with popups, popunders, and other nags. So why does it exempt itself from this?

3

Do you think there is a chance that:

  • testing an additional Brave Browser Profile might be worth the effort?

  • some extension(s) might be contributing to the problem?

  • any chance that file/folder permissions might be affecting the stick-or-not-stick ability of the settings?

May be of interest:

brave://chrome-urls/#internals

There, scroll down to, and click (to examine each of):

brave://prefs-internals/
brave://local-state/

In each, search for default_browser

Make note of the settings, before/after, you make the morning adjustment (“MUST”).

You might find something that - maybe - should stick, but does not, for some as-yet-unknown reason.

BTW, the Preferences and Local State pages cannot be edited directly. (And, here, I am not suggesting that you edit the files otherwise; but certainly you can view them.)

Brave Browser’s “BraveSoftware” folder location on the Mac:

  • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/

Bookmarks:

  • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Bookmarks
  • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Bookmarks.bak

Re file permissions. They are probably OK, but you might check . . .

Preferences file:

  • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Preferences

Local State file:

  • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Local State

Found a tip (for Linux OS users, but you might try it):

1- Create an empty html file (ex: file.html)
2- Right click → Open with → Other Application… → choose Brave & tick remember application → Ok

If the prompt continues to occur, another tip:

" You can ignore it forever by clicking on the X button on the right, it won’t pop up again. my solution will make brave default for opening links and files so everything will be fine even if brave doesn’t detect itself as default browser."

1 Like
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Ah, so it sounds like Brave should respect me closing the popup, but it’s not happening for some reason here.

There are so many programs that repeatedly nag until they get their way (“how dare you not click Accept All in the cookie dialog”, and that sort of thing) that it’s all too easy to assume it’s deliberate these days :wink:

Thanks, but that does the opposite of what I want — it’s not that I’ve made Brave the default browser and it’s still prompting me, it’s that I don’t want it to be the default, and the X button doesn’t ignore it forever — the bar still pops up.

(I use Velja as the default browser — it allows me to set rules as to what should open in which browser, and prompts me for everything else. Useful for web dev work!)

I’ve quit Brave, edited the Local Storage file, and changed default_browser_infobar_declined_count to 9999, and that seems to have given it a clue that it shouldn’t show it again. I’ll see if that sticks.

It sounds like Brave is showing the bar a number of times before it takes the hint and doesn’t show it again. That just annoys people — a “don’t show this again” button would be a better UX here.

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@hohum ,

Bravo, you figured out a workaround:

Screen Shot 2025-01-07 at 4.20.00 AM
Screen Shot 2025-01-07 at 4.20.00 AM1370Ă—148 26.2 KB

You might consider changing the title of your Original Post, to:

Do not want Brave as default browser - but it keeps nagging me

1 Like