How to Set Up Perplexity Comet as Your Daily Browser, Step by Step

I made Perplexity Comet my default browser for a month, mostly out of curiosity about whether an AI sidebar would actually change how I work or just sit there unused like most browser extensions do. It changed more than I expected, but only once I'd set it up properly — the out-of-the-box defaults left most of what's useful switched off. This is the setup I'd actually hand someone, in the order I'd do it myself.

This is beginner to intermediate — Comet installs like any other browser and needs no technical setup, but a couple of the Assistant permissions are worth understanding rather than clicking through blind. If you're still deciding between Comet and its two main rivals, I compared all three AI browsers after a month of real use before settling on this one for my own daily driver.

Why bother with a whole new browser for this

I'd already been leaning on Perplexity for most of my day-to-day search, so Comet felt less like adopting a new tool and more like that same habit growing a browser around it. The pitch is simple: instead of a chatbot living in its own tab, you get a sidebar assistant that can see whatever page you've got open and act on it — summarise an article, compare two tabs side by side, pull a spec out of a product page — without you copying text back and forth first. Whether that's worth a browser switch depends entirely on how it's set up, which is the part most reviews skip past.

Step 1: Install it and import everything in one pass

Download Comet from Perplexity's site and sign in with a Perplexity account — free is enough to follow this whole guide. The first-run screen offers to import bookmarks, saved passwords and history from whatever browser you're currently using. Say yes to all of it in that first pass; doing it later means hunting through settings menus for an import option that's easy to miss once the initial screen has closed.

Step 2: Don't make it your default browser yet

This is the step every quick-start guide skips, and it's the one I'd do differently if I started again. Leave your old browser as the system default for the first few days and open Comet deliberately when you want the Assistant. That way you're never caught without a working browser if something in the new setup trips you up, and you get an honest read on how often you actually reach for it before committing your whole workflow to it.

Step 3: Learn what the Assistant sidebar can see

Click the Assistant icon in the top corner and it opens a sidebar that reads the page you're currently on by default — no copy-pasting the article into a chat window first. Ask it to summarise a long page, pull out the three key numbers from a spec sheet, or explain a paragraph of jargon in plain English, and it answers from what's actually open in that tab. Open a second tab and ask it to compare the two, and it will, which is the single feature that made this feel different from just having Perplexity open elsewhere.

Step 4: Set the agentic permissions deliberately, not by default

Beyond answering questions, Comet can act on pages for you — add something to a cart, fill in a multi-step form, work through a settings menu. In my month of testing, it was noticeably more cautious here than one of its rivals: it will summarise and answer all day, but ask it to actually complete a transaction and it checks with you more often than not. Go into the Assistant's settings and read through what it's permitted to do before you hand it anything that touches money or an account you care about. The caution is a feature, not a bug — leave it cautious rather than switching every confirmation off in the name of convenience.

Step 5: Give it one real task before you judge it

A demo video and an actual week of use tell you different things. Pick one task you already do often — comparing two product pages before buying, summarising a long thread before a meeting, pulling the return policy out of a retailer's terms page — and run it through Comet for a week. That's a fairer test than a five-minute poke around, and it's exactly how I landed on the handful of things I now reach for it for daily.

Step 6: Decide what stays on your old browser, on purpose

Once Comet earns its place, resist the urge to retire your old browser entirely. I still open a separate, plain browser for banking and anything holding a password I actually care about — not because Comet has misbehaved, but because one browser that does less is a genuinely useful second option to have, and the extra few seconds of friction on the accounts that matter most is a trade worth making regardless of which AI browser you pick.

Common mistakes worth avoiding

1. Switching your default browser before testing it. Run Comet alongside your current one for the first week so a rough edge never leaves you without a working browser.
2. Turning on every agentic permission at once. Go through them deliberately — the cautious default is there on purpose, not because the feature is half-built.
3. Judging it from a five-minute look. The Assistant sidebar only earns its keep once you've run a real, repeated task through it — give it a week on one thing you already do often.
4. Retiring your old browser entirely. Keep a plain one for banking and sensitive logins, exactly as you would with any new browser, AI-powered or not.

If Apple's own on-device AI already covers most of what you need without installing anything new, it's worth reading which Apple Intelligence features are actually worth turning on first before you add a second AI tool on top. And if you spend more of your day writing code than browsing tabs, the same build-vs-buy decision shows up there too — I ran the same kind of month-long test comparing Cursor and GitHub Copilot. For everything else I've tested and kept, the full AI Tools archive is where I log every verdict, newest first — and if you're earlier in figuring out which AI tools are even worth your time, my course, Your First 30 Days With AI, starts there; the first two modules are free, no card details.

Questions people actually ask

Is Perplexity Comet free?

Yes, the core browser and its Assistant sidebar are free to use with a regular Perplexity account. A Perplexity Pro or Max subscription unlocks extra Assistant usage and some of the more advanced agentic actions, but you can set up and use Comet for everyday browsing without paying anything.

Does Comet work on Windows, not just Mac?

Yes — Comet runs on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, which is the main reason I ended up using it over ChatGPT Atlas or Dia, both of which are Mac-only. It's built on Chromium, so if you're moving from Chrome or Edge, your bookmarks and extensions carry across without much fuss.

Is it safe to let Comet log into my accounts or fill in forms?

For most everyday sites, yes, and Comet is noticeably more cautious than some rivals about acting on your behalf without asking first. For banking, anything holding a password you really care about, I still keep a separate plain browser — not because Comet has done anything wrong, but because one extra step of friction on the accounts that matter most is a trade I'll always make.

What's the difference between Comet and just using Perplexity in a normal browser?

Using Perplexity in a tab gives you one assistant in one place. Comet's Assistant sits in a sidebar that can see and act on whatever page or pages you already have open — summarising an article, comparing two tabs, or pulling a spec out of a product page — without you copying anything across first. That's the actual upgrade, not the search engine underneath.

Do I need to abandon my current browser completely?

No, and I'd suggest you don't. I set Comet as my default for a month to actually test it, but I kept my old browser installed for banking and anything sensitive. Running both costs nothing and means you're never stuck without a browser while you decide.