Using a Plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "<http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd>">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>DefaultBrowserSettingEnabled</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>


Using a Script
As it happens, I just found a way to script this, but it takes a bit of doing. Up to you if you wanna do it this way. It sets Chrome as the default browser, mail pp, and calendar app (we’re a Gsuite shop):
Only downside is having to install an instance of python3
#!/bin/bash
#get current console user name
currentuser=`stat -f "%Su" /dev/console`
curl <https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.11.5/python-3.11.5-macos11.pkg> --output /Users/Shared/python3.pkg
installer -pkg /Users/Shared/python3.pkg -target /usr/local/bin
rm /Users/Shared/python3.pkg
/usr/local/bin/python3 -m pip install pyobjc-framework-LaunchServices
su "$currentuser" -c /usr/local/bin/python3 <<EOF
import LaunchServices;
result = LaunchServices.LSSetDefaultHandlerForURLScheme(
"mailto",
"com.google.Chrome")
result = LaunchServices.LSSetDefaultHandlerForURLScheme(
"webcal",
"com.google.Chrome")
result = LaunchServices.LSSetDefaultHandlerForURLScheme(
"http",
"com.google.Chrome")
result = LaunchServices.LSSetDefaultHandlerForURLScheme(
"https",
"com.google.Chrome")
result = LaunchServices.LSSetDefaultHandlerForURLScheme(
"public.html",
"com.google.Chrome")
print("Result: %d (%s)" % (
result,
"Success" if result == 0 else "Error"))
EOF
Another Script
#!/bin/zsh
## Note (6 Dec., 2019): The old version that used lsregister no longer worked as of
## Catalina (10.15). The version that doesn't use lsregister does appear to work in
## Ventura (13.4.1), as long as you reboot. Otherwise, trying to run lsregister afterwards
## may prevent System Settings from launching up
# Desired default browser string
DefaultBrowser='com.google.chrome'
#DefaultBrowser='com.microsoft.edgemac'
#DefaultBrowser='org.mozilla.firefox'
#DefaultBrowser='com.apple.safari'
# PlistBuddy executable
PlistBuddy='/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy'
# Plist directory
PlistDirectory="$HOME/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices"
# Plist name
PlistName="com.apple.launchservices.secure.plist"
# Plist location
PlistLocation="$PlistDirectory/$PlistName"
# Array of preferences to add
PrefsToAdd=("{ LSHandlerContentType = \\"public.url\\"; LSHandlerPreferredVersions = { LSHandlerRoleViewer = \\"-\\"; }; LSHandlerRoleViewer = \\"$DefaultBrowser\\"; }"
"{ LSHandlerContentType = \\"public.html\\"; LSHandlerPreferredVersions = { LSHandlerRoleAll = \\"-\\"; }; LSHandlerRoleAll = \\"$DefaultBrowser\\"; }"
"{ LSHandlerPreferredVersions = { LSHandlerRoleAll = \\"-\\"; }; LSHandlerRoleAll = \\"$DefaultBrowser\\"; LSHandlerURLScheme = https; }"
"{ LSHandlerPreferredVersions = { LSHandlerRoleAll = \\"-\\"; }; LSHandlerRoleAll = \\"$DefaultBrowser\\"; LSHandlerURLScheme = http; }"
)
# Double-check the PlistLocation exists
if [[ -f "$PlistLocation" ]]; then
# Initialize counter that will just keep moving us through the array of dicts
# A bit imprecise... would be better if we could just count the array of dicts, but we'll stop when we get to a blank one
Counter=0
# Initialize DictResult just so the while loop begins
DictResult='PLACEHOLDER'
while [[ ! -z "$DictResult" ]]; do
DictResult=$("$PlistBuddy" -c "Print LSHandlers:$Counter" "$PlistLocation")
# Check for existing settings
if [[ "$DictResult" == *"public.url"* || "$DictResult" == *"public.html"* || "$DictResult" == *"LSHandlerURLScheme = https"* || "$DictResult" == *"LSHandlerURLScheme = http"* ]]; then
# Delete the existing. We'll add new ones in later
"$PlistBuddy" -c "Delete :LSHandlers:$Counter" "$PlistLocation"
/bin/echo "Deleting $Counter from Plist"
fi
# Increase counter
Counter=$((Counter+1))
# End of while loop
done
# Plist does not exist
else
# Say the Plist does not exist
/bin/echo "Plist does not exist. Creating directory for it."
/bin/mkdir -p "$PlistDirectory"
# End checking whether Plist exists or not
fi
echo "Adding in prefs"
for PrefToAdd in "${PrefsToAdd[@]}"
do
/usr/bin/defaults write "$PlistLocation" LSHandlers -array-add "$PrefToAdd"
done
/bin/echo "You may need to reboot for changes to take effect."
Another Script
plistbuddyPreferences=(
"Add :LSHandlers:0:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:0:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:0:LSHandlerURLScheme string http"
"Add :LSHandlers:1:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:1:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:1:LSHandlerURLScheme string https"
"Add :LSHandlers:2:LSHandlerContentType string public.html"
"Add :LSHandlers:2:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:2:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:3:LSHandlerContentType string public.xhtml"
"Add :LSHandlers:3:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:3:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:4:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:4:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:4:LSHandlerURLScheme string webcal"
"Add :LSHandlers:5:LSHandlerContentType string public.url"
"Add :LSHandlers:5:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:5:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
)
#!/bin/zsh
# Set Chrome as default browser
# original script from Palantir Tech
# <https://github.com/palantir/jamf-pro-scripts/blob/main/scripts/Set%20Default%20Browser%20and%20Email%20Client.sh>
# richard@richard-purves.com
# Variables here
loggedInUser=$( /usr/sbin/scutil <<< "show State:/Users/ConsoleUser" | /usr/bin/awk -F': ' '/[[:space:]]+Name[[:space:]]:/ { if ( $2 != "loginwindow" ) { print $2 }}' )
loggedInUserHome=$(/usr/bin/dscl . -read "/Users/$loggedInUser" NFSHomeDirectory | /usr/bin/awk '{print $NF}')
launchServicesPlistFolder="$loggedInUserHome/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices"
launchServicesPlist="$launchServicesPlistFolder/com.apple.launchservices.secure.plist"
plistbuddyPath="/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy"
plistbuddyPreferences=(
"Add :LSHandlers:0:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:0:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:0:LSHandlerURLScheme string http"
"Add :LSHandlers:1:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:1:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:1:LSHandlerURLScheme string https"
"Add :LSHandlers:2:LSHandlerContentType string public.html"
"Add :LSHandlers:2:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:2:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:3:LSHandlerContentType string public.xhtml"
"Add :LSHandlers:3:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:3:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:4:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:4:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
"Add :LSHandlers:4:LSHandlerURLScheme string webcal"
"Add :LSHandlers:5:LSHandlerContentType string public.url"
"Add :LSHandlers:5:LSHandlerPreferredVersions:LSHandlerRoleAll string -"
"Add :LSHandlers:5:LSHandlerRoleAll string com.google.chrome"
)
lsregisterPath="/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister"
# Clear out LSHandlers array data from $launchServicesPlist, or create new plist if file does not exist.
if [[ -e "$launchServicesPlist" ]];
then
"$plistbuddyPath" -c "Delete :LSHandlers" "$launchServicesPlist"
echo "Reset LSHandlers array from $launchServicesPlist."
else
/bin/mkdir -p "$launchServicesPlistFolder"
"$plistbuddyPath" -c "Save" "$launchServicesPlist"
echo "Created $launchServicesPlist."
fi
# Add new LSHandlers array.
"$plistbuddyPath" -c "Add :LSHandlers array" "$launchServicesPlist"
echo "Initialized LSHandlers array."
# Set handler for each URL scheme and content type to specified browser and email client.
for plistbuddyCommand in $plistbuddyPreferences;
do
"$plistbuddyPath" -c "$plistbuddyCommand" "$launchServicesPlist"
done
# Fix permissions on $launchServicesPlistFolder.
/usr/sbin/chown -R "$loggedInUser" "$launchServicesPlistFolder"
echo "Fixed permissions on $launchServicesPlistFolder."
# Reset Launch Services database.
"$lsregisterPath" -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
# Kill any running Launch Services processes
/usr/bin/killall lsd
echo "Stopping any running Launch Services processes."
exit 0
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