macOS: external links open in Brave even though default browser is Chrome

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1

Description of the issue:

Click a link in any Brave webpage or app; link opens in Brave tab, even though my default browser setting in macOS is Chrome.

How can this issue be reproduced?

  1. Confirm macOS > System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Default web browser => Google Chrome.app
  2. Open Brave; go to some page with links to another domain
  3. Click link
  4. Observe that link opened in new Brave tab

Expected result:

Link should have opened in Chrome browser, since it’s default.

Brave Version( check About Brave):


Version 1.77.97 Chromium: 135.0.7049.84 (Official Build) (arm64)

Chrome: Version 135.0.7049.96 (Official Build) (arm64)

macOS: Sequoia 15.4 (24E248)

Additional Information:

  • I cannot find any setting that controls this behavior. There used to be one Allow app links to open in apps outside of Brave but it does not appear to be present any more.
  • I am using Brave Apps (for Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub) and they have the same behavior – links of all kinds always open in Brave.
2

If you’re referring to just normal links in a webpage, they will not open in the default browser as far as I know. The behavior you’re referring to is when you open specific links – protocol handlers like mailto/email links for example – either outside or inside the browser app, they will open in your email client in the browser (or outside, if that’s how you have it set).

Further, if you were to, for example, open the “Notes” app on macOS and enter a link then click it, it will open in Chrome (or whatever your default browser is). Or if you were to click a link from the Discord app on your system, this would also open in Chrome.

But no, links just on websites will open in the browser they’re being used in. For example, my default browser is set to Brave, yet when I open Chrome (or any browser) and click on links, they will always open in the browser I’m using.