How does 1Password select which browser to open for login items

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fourwheelcycle
fourwheelcycle
Community Member
edited December 2015 in Mac

I usually use Safari as my Web browser, but since I updated my Macs to El Capitan Safari sometimes will not load my Google home page. Other sites also sometimes fail to load, or fail to load a next page once I am at a site's main page. When this happens I have found the only way to end the temporary failure to load problem is to quit Safari and reopen it - a pain since I lose all my currently open windows and tabs. If someone can advise me on this non-1Password problem that would be great, but that is not the subject of this discussion.

Due to my frustration with Safari I recently installed Firefox as an alternate browser. I still prefer Safari, but when things get bad I switch to Firefox, which does not seem to be affected by this problem.

Here's my 1Password question:

Now that I have installed the 1Password extensions for both Safari and Firefox, I find that if I have Safari open and I load a login by poking my 1Password extension icon and selecting a particular login item 1Password will open the login page in a new tab in Safari - great. But if I have Safari open and for some reason I load a login by poking the 1Password icon in my Mac Dock (the main app) 1Password will now open the login page in a new window in Firefox - not great!

I my quest to set 1Password so the main app will always open login pages in the browser I have open, or in Safari if I have no browser open, I typed the title for this discussion in 1Password's Support search facility. Three possible helpful links came up, but none of them seemed (to me) to address my question.

I would greatly appreciate help and advice from my user colleagues, community moderators, or AgileBits team members!

Comments

  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    Options

    Hi @fourwheelcycle,

    Thanks for taking the time to contact us. I'm sorry that you are having some trouble.

    When you open a Login from within a specific browser, 1Password will use that specific browser. If you open a Login from the main 1Password app or 1Password mini not within a browser, 1Password will open the Login in your default browser. You can set your default browser in OS X like this:

    Set the default email app and web browser on your Mac

    There are also some useful apps that let you set rules for which links open in which browser. I use this one myself, but there are others:

    Browser Ninja

    If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. We are always here to help.

    Cheers!

  • fourwheelcycle
    fourwheelcycle
    Community Member
    Options

    Thanks khad, problem solved.

    Setting the default browser in my Mac's OS comes under the heading of things I have actually known about in the past, but which I use so infrequently I completely forget about them between uses. I'm sure what happened is that when I installed Firefox I poked yes to a question about making Firefox my default browser. I never noticed the impact of what I had done since I always open Safari from my dock when I turn on my Mac, and I rarely click links from my emails, etc., that might activate my Mac's default browser.

    Obviously, you are a pro and I am an amateur!

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni
    Options

    On behalf of Khad, you're very welcome! I'm glad to hear that helped. You're right about Khad being a pro (I've learned quite a lot from him!), but don't sell yourself short - options like the default browser can seem obvious once you know where they are, but otherwise can be extremely easy to forget. I also use that setting very infrequently, and I'd probably forget about it too if I didn't occasionally help other customers with similar questions! ;)

    Hopefully you're all set now, but if you have more questions or need anything else, just let us know. Happy New Year! :)

This discussion has been closed.