How to Set Up Velja on a Mac

Before you begin using Velja, there are a few things you need to set up. Start by launching the app on your Mac. Then, check off the “Launch at Login” checkbox and hit “Continue”.

Click the “Get Started” button. Velja will now minimize, and you’ll see its icon—a paw—in the menu bar on your Mac. Hit this icon and select “Settings”.

Click the “Make Default” button at the top of the page.

Velja will now pop up a prompt asking you to confirm changing your Mac’s default browser. Click the “Use Velja” button to set it as the default system web browser.

With the basic setup complete, let’s proceed with configuring Velja’s browser and app preferences and setting up rules.

Configure Velja’s Browser Preferences

Velja has multiple browser settings that you need to configure correctly to make it work the way you want.

• To begin, open Velja Settings again and go to the “Browsers” tab. Click the drop-down for the “Browser” option.
• Default web browser that Velja will use to open all the links for which you don’t explicitly select a browser, or that don’t have a set rule in the settings.
• Alternatively, you can set the option to “Prompt.” This will tell Velja to open a menu with a list of browsers every time you click a link, so you can choose one based on the situation.

Next, you need to set up an alternative browser, which is one that you can use at any time by clicking a link while pressing the Fn key on your keyboard. It’s set to “Prompt” by default. To change it, click the drop-down button next to “Alternative Browser” and select your preferred browser from the list.

By default, Velja shows all your installed browsers in the Prompt window. However, you can limit the number of browsers that appear in this prompt. To do this, hit “Choose” next to “Shown Browsers” and clear the checkboxes next to the browsers you don’t want in the menu. Hit “Done” to save.

In addition to allowing you to open links in your preferred browser, Velja also gives you the option to open links inside a specific profile in a web browser. This is possible with Rules, which we’ll demonstrate how to set up later in the guide. But first, you need to grant Velja access to browser profiles on your system.

In the Velja Settings, select the “Browsers” tab and click on “Grant Access” beside “Browser Profiles.”

This opens the Finder app on your Mac. Now click the “Allow” button to grant Velja access to the “Application Support” folder.

Configure Velja’s App Preferences

If you’ve got native apps for certain services, like Zoom, Spotify, or Notion on your Mac, it’s best to set Velja to open their links in the native desktop apps. To do this, head into the “Apps” tab in Velja Settings. Click the drop-down button next to the service you want to configure and select the relevant app from the list.

Set Up Rules in Velja

While setting up browser and app preferences is enough to get started with Velja, to get more control over how links are opened, you’ll need to create your own rules. Do note that rules overrule your browser selection in the prompt and your set browser and app preferences.

• To illustrate, we’ll create a rule in Velja that opens all Google Docs links in Google Chrome.
• Launch Velja Settings and head into the “Rules” tab. Click the plus (+) button in the bottom-left corner of the app to bring up the “New Rule” window.

Give a name to this rule.

Then, click the “Open in” dropdown button and choose “Google Chrome.” If you want to open the links in a specific Chrome profile, select a profile from the list.

Click the plus (+) button next to “URL Matchers” and enter a Google Docs URL to tell Velja what links to look for and forward to Chrome. Leave the “Detect via” drop-down set to “Domain” and hit “Save.”

How to Use Velja on Your Mac

Velja is easy to use, as it automatically handles most of the link redirections and openings based on your set browser, app preferences, and custom rules. So, the only time you need to do something extra is when you want to open a link in a browser using the prompt menu. Let’s explain.

• If you’ve set the Alternative Browser option to Prompt, whenever you want to open a link in a specific browser, click the link while pressing the Fn key. This will bring up the prompt menu with a list of web browsers. Click the browser or press the corresponding number key for that browser in the prompt, and Velja will open the link in it.
• On the other hand, if you set a browser as the Alternative Browser in Velja, you simply need to click the link while pressing the Fn key to open it in that browser.
• Similarly, you may have specified Velja to open links from certain services in their native apps. In this case, clicking the link will automatically open it in its desktop app.
• Lastly, if you’ve created a rule for URLs from a specific domain, Velja will automatically open them in the set browser (or browser profile) or app when you click them.