Change The Default File Association For Text Files On MAC OSX

I recently got a Macbook Pro which is running OSX 10.6 and is the first MAC I have used as my primary computer. Setting it up has been like setting up the first computer I ever setup since I am used to setting up computers running Windows or Linux. Anyhow it has been a great learning experience so look out for a lot more articles related to OSX and Macbooks in the near future. Anyhow the below steps will assist you changing the default application that opens text files from TextEdit or TextEdit.app to TextMate or TextMate.app.

Modify Text File Default File Association From TextEdit To TextMate On OSX:

Open Text File Info: First locate a text file in a Finder window. Right click the text file and select Get Info from the pop up menu displayed in the example image below.

Once you click on Get Info the file information window will display similar to the below. The file information window has numerous sections including Size, Info, Attributes, Permissions, Preview, and Open With.

Now proceed to the next step where we will modify the default application that opens text files.
Modify Text File Default Application: With the information window displayed as shown in the above example image click on the arrow next to Open With to expand the open with properties as shown in the below example image.

Notice the default application that opens text files on OSX is TextEdit. In this example we are going to modify that to TextMate however you can use whatever application you prefer to open text files. First click the drop down where TextEdit is currently selected and modify it to the application of your choice which will be TextMate in this example.

Next you will want to click the Change All button located right below the text that states, “Use this application to open all documents like this”. Once you click the Change All button it will pop up a warning message similar to the example image below.

Click the OK button to confirm the changes.