I can’t open links on Android: here’s how to fix the problem

Gone are the days when cell phones were an occasional accessory. They are now at the center of our technological lives in the vast majority of cases, and the mistakes they make bother us more than we care to admit. Like when we move between social media apps, messaging, etc. we touch a link and nothing happens. The phone does not want to open links and this has a solution.

When this happens, the problem is usually with something known in Android as default apps. The way it works is the same as in other operating systems when we have several applications installed that do the same thing: we tell the system which one to use. If this assignment fails or the chosen app is missing, Android doesn’t know what to do. In its programming it asks us but sometimes it can fail and it seems to us that by clicking on a link nothing happens. As they say, he has a solution.

What are the default apps on Android

As we have already explained, the default applications are those that the operating system defines to do certain things, to perform actions. For example, Gmail is usually the default when we want to send email and it’s the one that opens when you click on any website with an envelope icon, or when you click on an email address. In system navigation, this also happens. Google Photos is usually the default for displaying downloaded images or photos taken with the camera.

It happens from time to time that perhaps the application that we have by default to carry out an action is not there. Maybe it was damaged during the update, maybe we uninstalled it without realizing that he was ready to do certain things. On other occasions, fortunately to say the least, the system has failed in the assignment and no application is set for an action, but the system understands that it has nothing to ask of us.

Because that’s what the system usually does, asks us which application to open for everything until we fix it. We “default”.

Setting default apps on Android

If the system works as it should, when performing an action, it should access the default application and, if it does not find it, ask us what to do. A floating window opens asking us what action to take next. It happens when there are multiple apps doing the same thing, or when there is no app to do what we are asking. But if this window fails, we can fix it from the settings of the operating system itself.

For this, we must go to Settings of the operating system and from there locate the section Apps. In some layers it may be called “System Apps” or similar there may be changes. Once we have entered the ‘Applications’ section, we only have to locate a new section called Default apps. We enter and we will see that it consists of several sections.

In ‘Default Applications’ we will see that we can change the application that controls the system desktops (the launcher), the application that will act as an Internet browser, the application in charge of managing SMS messages and even the application to make and answer calls. There we can define which we want to do each thing. The important thing, however, is below. The section is called open linksalthough in some manufacturers it can switch to “Open by default”, as in OxygenOS, and this is where we will find the specialized applications.

Inside of “open links” This is where the apps that specialize in performing certain tasks are located. For example, the PDF file reader. For example, the Amazon application stops when we click on a purchase link while browsing. For example, the Internet browser itself to open the links we receive through WhatsApp, Telegram and company.

It is in this section that we will locate the application which fails when trying to open the link which does not work for us. As we have already said, maybe the application is not fixed there or maybe it does not exist. It is possible that we were waiting for a PDF to open but we have removed the application that was responsible for it. If we don’t find it there, we’ll find out and we’ll just have to reinstall and fix it. And if it’s misconfigured, we’ll grant you the appropriate permissions and do something else.

This is how we can solve the annoying problem that some links are not opening on our Android phone or tablet. It may seem simple but it is not a completely intuitive system, so it is never useless to have a guide like this to be able to consult each of the steps. We summarize them below:

• We open the Settings of the phone.
• we are looking for Apps or “System apps”.
• we are looking for Default apps.
• We check that everything is correct there, with applications assigned for each task.
• now we open open links.
• We are looking for the specific application which should perform the task we want. For example, open music files. If not, we install it. If it is not assigned, we assign it.