{"id":798,"date":"2017-06-20T01:12:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T01:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elicollier.com\/?p=798"},"modified":"2020-03-30T21:20:40","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T21:20:40","slug":"change-default-email-program-mailto-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elicollier.com\/profile\/it\/change-default-email-program-mailto-links\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Change The Default Email Program For Mailto: Links"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a copy of the article from\u00a0http:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/tag\/how-to-change-the-default-email-program-for-mailto-links\/ <\/a>without ads.<\/p>\n

How To Change The Default Email Program For Mailto: Links<\/h1>\n
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If you don\u2019t use the default mail client on your computer, you can easily make the mailto: links in your browser open in your regular email program. Here\u2019s what you need to know.Any time you click on an email-address-turned-link (also called a mailto: link) on any web page or in any desktop program on your computer,\u00a0it opens a compose window in the default mail client that came with your operating system. That\u2019s\u00a0quite annoying when you use a third-party email client or even a webmail service.<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t you prefer having\u00a0mailto: links open up in the email program that you use instead? Well, that\u2019s exactly how things will work if\u00a0<\/strong>you\u00a0set up your email program to be the default handler for mailto: links. We\u2019ll show you how to do that.<\/p>\n

Opening Mailto: Links in Webmail<\/h2>\n

If you prefer the webmail experience<\/a>, depending on the browser and the webmail service that you use, let\u2019s see how you can make those two work in harmony to handle mailto: links. 6 Reasons Why You Should Stop Using Desktop Email Clients in Favour of Web-Based Options<\/a> <\/span><\/span>6 Reasons Why You Should Stop Using Desktop Email Clients in Favour of Web-Based Options<\/a><\/span> I know that suggesting desktop clients have had their day around the MakeUseOf crowd is like preaching to the choir. Most of us use Gmail, our own mail servers or some form of cloud backup…<\/span> Read More<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In Chrome<\/h3>\n

Sign into Gmail \u2014 this works only when you\u2019re signed in \u2014 and look for the handler icon, which\u00a0looks like a pair of grey overlapping diamond shapes, adjacent to the star icon in the address bar. Click on the handler icon and you\u2019ll get a popup dialog where you\u2019ll need to select the Allow<\/strong> option to ensure that Gmail opens all email links in future.<\/p>\n

\"chrome-default-handler-gmail\"<\/p>\n

If you want Inbox<\/a> instead of the old Google Mail to handle email links for you, click on the handler icon when you\u2019re on inbox.google.com<\/a> to make the change.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t see the handler icon in the address bar?<\/strong> You might have changed its default behavior in Chrome settings. That\u2019s not a problem though. Go to Settings > Show advanced settings<\/strong>\u2026 and under Privacy > Content settings<\/strong>\u2026 > Handlers<\/strong>, select the radio button next to Allow sites to ask to become default handlers for protocols (recommended)<\/strong> to get back the handler icon.<\/p>\n

\"content-settings-handlers\"<\/p>\n

For other popular webmail clients that are not Gmail<\/strong>, the Chrome extension Mailto:<\/a> offers the quickest way to set them as default handlers for mailto: links. It supports Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, FastMail, Zoho Mail, and AOL Mail right out of the box. If you use an email service that\u2019s not part of this set, you can still configure that service using the add another service<\/strong> option.<\/p>\n

\"chrome-mailto-extension-settings\"<\/p>\n

In Firefox<\/h3>\n

Go to Firefox Options\/Preferences > Applications<\/strong>\u00a0and look for the mailto<\/strong> option under Content Type. The dropdown menu next to it is where you can specify which email program you want to use. It could be Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, or any other desktop email program such as Thunderbird<\/a> or Microsoft Outlook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For linking to a desktop client, you\u2019ll have to use the Use Other<\/strong>\u2026 option in the dropdown menu and navigate to your email program via Explorer (or via Finder, if you\u2019re on a Mac).<\/p>\n

\"firefox-mailto-association\"<\/p>\n

The mailto<\/strong> dropdown menu has a couple of other useful options:<\/p>\n