How to set the default viewer to markdown preview?

As detailed in the link from the last response in the JupyterLab issue chain for ‘Change default markdown editor to preview #6442’, it’s adjustable in the ‘Document Manager’ in JupyterLab, accessible via ‘Settings’ > ‘Advanced Settings Editor’ > ‘Document Manager’.

For configuring that for all your users, see Markdown Preview for JupyterHub?.