How can I set Google Chrome Canary as the default browser on Windows 8?

Solution 1:

Replace YourUsernameHere with your user name. After that copy and paste the below into a text file and save it as canary.reg. then double click the file.

This will only work if you have administrative privileges on your computer. If you are doing this on a computer without admin, you can use the same setup, replacing HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE with HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software and replacing ChromeSxSHTML with ChromeSxSHTML with the key you can find in Regedit in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\ - You'll see one named ChromeSSHTML.<some random string here>. Copy this and replace ChromeSxSHTML with it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSHTML]
"URL Protocol"=""
@="Google Chrome Canary HTML Document"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSHTML\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Users\\YourUsernameHere\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome SxS\\Application\\chrome.exe,4"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSHTML\shell]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSHTML\shell\open]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSHTML\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Users\\YourUsernameHere\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome SxS\\Application\\chrome.exe\" -- \"%1\""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSURL]
@="Google Chrome Canary URL"
"FriendlyTypeName"="Google Chrome Canary URL"
"URL Protocol"=""
"EditFlags"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSURL\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Users\\YourUsernameHere\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome SxS\\Application\\chrome.exe,4"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSURL\shell]
@="open"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSURL\shell\open]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ChromeSxSURL\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Users\\YourUsernameHere\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome SxS\\Application\\chrome.exe\" -- \"%1\""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FirefoxURL\shell\open\ddeexec]
@="\"%1\",,0,0,,,,"
"NoActivateHandler"=""
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FirefoxURL\shell\open\ddeexec\Application]
@="Google Chrome Canary"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FirefoxURL\shell\open\ddeexec\Topic]
@="WWW_OpenURL"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice]
"Progid"="ChromeSxSHTML"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\https\UserChoice]
"Progid"="ChromeSxSHTML"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm]
@="ChromeSxSHTML"
"Content Type"="text/html"
"PerceivedType"="text"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.html]
@="ChromeSxSHTML"
"Content Type"="text/html"
"PerceivedType"="text"

Solution 2:

Control Panel > Default Programs > Set your default programs. Click on Google Chrome Canary and select "Set this program as default".

Solution 3:

Not answering the original question, but for people like me who might stumble upon this page when searching, the way to do it on OS X Yosemite (10.10) and up is in System Preferences -> General. Before it was in Safari's setting but now it's no longer the case.