How to *really* set chrome as the default Ubuntu browser

Question

I want Chrome to be my default browser for everything. I don't want Firefox to open unless I want to use it explicitly.

• I've tried telling Chrome to set itself as the default

• I tried the instructions here and got as output:

  [georgemauer@ubuntu:~]$ sudo update-alternatives --config x-www-browser
  There are 2 choices for the alternative x-www-browser (providing /usr/bin/x-www-browser).
  
  Selection      Path                        Priority  Status
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  * 0            /usr/bin/chromium-browser   40        auto mode
    1            /usr/bin/chromium-browser   40        manual mode
    2            /usr/bin/firefox            40        manual mode
  

Yet when I click a link in an empathy chat window or from the launcher it opens in Firefox! What gives?

I have rebooted many times and have been living with this for a week. Any ideas?

Answer 1

look at: ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list

if the file is not there, create an empty one, then use the chrome feature to set it itself as default browser. If this not work, try adding this content. (check for the right .desktop file for Google Chrome)

[Added Associations]
x-scheme-handler/http=chromium-browser.desktop

[Default Applications]
x-scheme-handler/http=chromium-browser.desktop

Answer 2

For an old question, and up-to date answer:

xdg-settings set default-web-browser chromium-browser.desktop