How can I set Elmedia as my default video player on Mac?

Mac
1

I recently installed Elmedia Player on my Mac and really like it, but all my video files still open in the old default app. I’ve tried changing the “Open with” settings on a file, but it doesn’t seem to apply to all videos or it keeps reverting. Can someone walk me through the correct way to make Elmedia Player the default video player for all common video formats on macOS?

2

To get Elmedia to open your videos by default on macOS, here is what I did and what worked reliably.

How I set Elmedia as default for a file type

  1. In Finder, I picked any video file, for example an .mp4.
  2. I right‑clicked it and hit Get Info.
  3. In the Get Info window, I scrolled to the section labeled Open with.
  4. From the dropdown, I picked Elmedia Player. If it was not listed at first, I launched Elmedia once, closed it, then checked again.
  5. After choosing Elmedia Player, I clicked the Change All button under that dropdown.
  6. macOS asked me to confirm that I wanted all files of that type to open with Elmedia. I confirmed.

From that point, all files with the same extension as the one I used in step 1 started opening in Elmedia by default. So .mp4 in my case.

One catch

I had to repeat the same steps for other formats, like .avi, .mkv, .mov. macOS treats each extension separately, so you go through the same Get Info > Open with > Elmedia Player > Change All flow once per format you care about.

Quick one‑off method if you do not want to change defaults yet

If you only want to open a specific video with Elmedia without changing anything system‑wide:

  1. Right‑click the video file in Finder.
  2. Hover over Open With.
  3. Select Elmedia Player from the list.

That launches only that file in Elmedia, without touching your default app settings for the file type. I used this first to test playback before committing to Change All.

1 Like
3

What @mikeappsreviewer wrote is right for per‑extension changes, but macOS is picky and sometimes ignores a single “Change All” if Launch Services is messy. Since “Open with” did not stick for you, try a more system‑wide cleanup.

  1. Quit Elmedia Player and any other video apps.

  2. Go to Applications and make sure Elmedia Player sits directly in that folder, not inside a subfolder.

  3. Open Terminal and reset Launch Services default mappings for apps. This command rebuilds the Launch Services DB:

    /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

  4. Restart your Mac after that finishes.

  5. Now do the Get Info method again on one video type you use a lot, like an mp4.
    Open with → Elmedia Player → Change All.

If you use VLC, QuickTime, IINA or others, opening them right after this sometimes steals back some extensions. So after the reset, launch Elmedia Player first, then assign defaults. That seems to “teach” Launch Services that Elmedia Player is your main handler.

You also need to repeat this for each extension you care about, even if that feels dumb. mp4, mkv, avi, mov, m4v, etc. macOS treats each as a separate association. If some files still open in the wrong app, check if they have a weird extension or no extension at all. Those will ignore your mp4 settings.

One more thing that helps: inside browsers or other apps, change their internal player settings too. Some apps have their own “open external videos with” option, separate from macOS. For those, pick Elmedia Player directly.

If all else fails, remove and reinstall Elmedia Player from Applications, repeat the Launch Services reset, then assign defaults again. It is a bit tedious, but once done, Elmedia Player becomes the main video app for pretty much everything you click.

4

Couple of extra angles you can try, on top of what @mikeappsreviewer and @caminantenocturno already laid out:

  1. Check the “wrong” files themselves

Sometimes it looks like “all videos” are ignoring Elmedia Player, but macOS is actually treating them as a different type:

  • Two files can both look like something.mp4, but:
    • One is actually .MP4 in caps
    • One has a hidden second extension like .mp4.mov
    • One is missing the extension and Finder is just guessing the type

For a file that still opens in the old app:

  • Select it in Finder and do File > Get Info
  • Check:
    • Name & Extension: make sure it’s really .mp4, .mkv, etc.
    • Kind: see if macOS is calling it something weird like “MPEG video” vs “QuickTime movie”

If the extension is wrong or missing, fix the name first, then redo the Open with → Elmedia Player → Change All for that specific extension.

  1. Use System Settings for some control

macOS is terrible about a global “default video player”, but you do have some indirect levers:

  • In System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Default web browser, set your browser, then inside that browser:
    • Check its own handling: some browsers or media managers have settings like “Open video files in external player”
    • Put Elmedia Player there when possible

Also, some apps (media managers, downloaders, Plex-style tools) completely ignore the Finder default. You have to go into those apps’ Preferences and look for something like:

  • “External video player”
  • “Open in”
  • “Play with”
    and set Elmedia Player explicitly.
  1. Check for ‘helper’ apps stealing the association

After you’ve done the Change All thing, another app can quietly hijack the extension again the next time it launches. Common culprits: VLC, older QuickTime variants, random codec packs.

Try this:

  • Do the Get Info > Open with > Elmedia Player > Change All for .mp4
  • Then do not open your other players for a bit
  • Quit and reopen Finder, double click an mp4 and see what launches

If it works at that point but breaks again after opening something like VLC, that other app is fighting over defaults. In that case, you can:

  • Go into that competing app’s Preferences
  • Disable “check for associations” or “set as default player”
  • Or just uninstall it if you never use it anymore
  1. Use a test account to see if it’s your user profile

Just to rule out a messed up user-level config:

  • Create a new macOS user account (System Settings > Users & Groups)
  • Log into that account
  • Install Elmedia Player
  • Try the same Get Info > Open with > Change All on an mp4

If it works fine there, your main account has borked Launch Services prefs. The lsregister reset that @caminantenocturno mentioned is the right hammer, but sometimes you also need to:

  • Delete the old player from /Applications (or at least move it out)
  • Run the reset
  • Then reinstall Elmedia Player fresh and set defaults again
  1. For really stubborn formats, open from Elmedia first

This is anecdotal, but has helped me:

  • Open Elmedia Player
  • Use File > Open inside Elmedia to open one of the stubborn files
  • Close Elmedia
  • Then go back to Finder and redo Get Info → Open with → Elmedia Player → Change All

macOS sometimes “remembers” that Elmedia actually handled that file type and is less likely to ignore the association afterward. No clue why, but it’s been more consistent for me than just using Change All on a type Elmedia has never seen before.

If you go through:

  • Cleaning up weird extensions
  • Stopping other players from hijacking
  • Maybe testing a second user account

you should be able to get Elmedia Player acting as the true default for the major video formats you use, even if macOS makes you babysit each extension one by one.

5

Quick troubleshooting rundown, building on what’s already been said:

  1. Launch Services reset (when “Change All” keeps reverting)
    Sometimes macOS associations are just corrupted, so repeating Get Info forever will not fix it.
    You can reset Launch Services and then let Elmedia Player re‑register:
  • Quit all apps.
  • Move any old video players you barely use out of /Applications temporarily (or at least quit them).
  • Run a Launch Services rebuild. Easiest non‑terminal way: use a maintenance utility like Onyx or Cocktail and run the “Rebuild Launch Services” task.
  • Reboot.
  • Open a few formats directly from Elmedia Player via File > Open (mp4, mkv, avi).
  • Now redo the Get Info → Open with → Elmedia Player → Change All per extension.

This sequence often “sticks” better than hammering Change All on a broken database.

  1. Smart way to avoid babysitting 20 different formats
    I disagree a bit with the idea that you must micro‑manage every extension forever. In practice, most of your files are usually a small subset like mp4, mkv, mov, avi.

Target those only:

  • In Finder, sort a big video folder by Kind.
  • For each Kind that appears a lot (e.g., “MPEG-4 movie”, “Matroska video”):
    • Pick one file of that kind, do the Elmedia Player → Change All dance.
  • Ignore rare edge formats unless you actually hit one that opens wrong.
  1. Check “Kind” more than the extension
    Where I agree with the earlier comments: extension can lie. Where I’d push further: treat “Kind” as the real source of truth.

If two mp4s both end in .mp4 but one shows as “QuickTime movie” and the other as “MPEG-4 movie,” macOS may treat them differently. Fix by:

  • Converting or re‑saving the odd ones (even a quick HandBrake pass).
  • Or right‑click → Services (if you have any renaming / tagging tools) to normalize them.

Once they share the same Kind, your Elmedia default usually applies consistently.

  1. Watch out for sandboxed apps & media managers
    Some apps ignore Finder defaults completely. For example:
  • Download managers or torrent clients may have a built‑in player.
  • Plex‑like managers sometimes insist on their own playback engine.

Inside those apps’ Preferences, explicitly pick Elmedia Player as “external player” if that option exists. Finder settings will never override that.

  1. Pros & cons of using Elmedia Player as the default

Pros:

  • Handles a wide range of formats (mkv, flac tracks inside videos, etc.) better than the stock player.
  • Nice subtitle handling and track switching, which makes it a strong default when you double click almost anything.
  • Good performance on heavier files, especially when you do not want to fight codec packs.

Cons:

  • Free version has some features locked behind Pro, so if you expect advanced streaming or full playback controls everywhere, you may hit paywalls.
  • Not as instantly recognized by some third‑party tools as “the” default, so you occasionally have to point those apps to Elmedia Player manually.
  • If you keep multiple players installed, it can be in a constant tug‑of‑war for file associations with them.
  1. How this compares with the other advice in the thread
  • What @mikeappsreviewer described is the core Apple‑approved way and is absolutely necessary, just not always sufficient once Launch Services is damaged.
  • @caminantenocturno’s reset idea is on the right track; combining that with actually using Elmedia on each key format right after the reset makes things more reliable.
  • @chasseurdetoiles was right about hijacking by other players, but instead of only disabling their “set as default” options, I would actually uninstall or at least remove rarely used players during troubleshooting, then bring them back later if you really need them.

If you go in this order:

  1. clean / reset Launch Services,
  2. open formats inside Elmedia Player,
  3. use Change All only for the high‑volume “Kind” types you actually use,

you should end up with Elmedia Player handling almost everything you double click, without endlessly redoing the same steps.