{"id":43035,"date":"2015-03-24T21:28:33","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T15:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=43035"},"modified":"2026-10-06T20:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:42:20","slug":"open-mailto-links-in-gmail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Open Mailto Links in Gmail by Default (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Mac)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Click an email address on a website and Outlook or the Mail app pops up, when you actually use Gmail? You can make mailto links open in Gmail by default, so clicking any email link opens a new Gmail compose window with the address filled in. Here&#8217;s how to open mailto links in Gmail in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on Windows and Mac, and on Android and iPhone.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63311\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/open-mailto-links-gmail.webp\" alt=\"Open mailto links in Gmail by default\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/open-mailto-links-gmail.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/open-mailto-links-gmail-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/open-mailto-links-gmail-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/open-mailto-links-gmail-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/open-mailto-links-gmail-768x403.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> In Chrome, open <strong>mail.google.com<\/strong>, click the <strong>handler icon<\/strong> (two overlapping diamonds) at the right end of the address bar, and choose <strong>Allow<\/strong>. Then set Chrome as your default app for <strong>MAILTO<\/strong> links in Windows or macOS. From then on, every email link opens in Gmail.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af2d85b9d3f6\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af2d85b9d3f6\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#What_are_mailto_links\" >What are mailto links?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#How_to_open_mailto_links_in_Gmail_in_Chrome\" >How to open mailto links in Gmail in Chrome<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#Dont_see_the_diamond_icon\" >Don&#8217;t see the diamond icon?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#Make_Chrome_your_default_email_app\" >Make Chrome your default email app<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#Open_mailto_links_in_Gmail_in_other_browsers\" >Open mailto links in Gmail in other browsers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#Open_email_links_in_the_Gmail_app_on_your_phone\" >Open email links in the Gmail app on your phone<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#Frequently_asked_questions\" >Frequently asked questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#Why_do_mailto_links_still_open_Outlook\" >Why do mailto links still open Outlook?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#Can_I_use_a_different_Gmail_account_for_mailto_links\" >Can I use a different Gmail account for mailto links?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/#How_do_I_stop_mailto_links_opening_in_Gmail\" >How do I stop mailto links opening in Gmail?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_mailto_links\"><\/span>What are mailto links?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A mailto link is a web link that starts with <code>mailto:<\/code> instead of <code>https:\/\/<\/code>. Instead of opening a page, it opens your email program with a new message to that address, and sometimes a subject and body filled in too, for example <code>mailto:editor@example.com?subject=Hello<\/code> (see <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/HTML\/Element\/a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MDN\u2019s guide to mailto links<\/a>). Try it with the email link on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/contact\/\">contact page<\/a>. By default, Windows opens these in Outlook or the Mail app, and Macs open Apple Mail.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_open_mailto_links_in_Gmail_in_Chrome\"><\/span>How to open mailto links in Gmail in Chrome<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Open Gmail at <strong>mail.google.com<\/strong> in Chrome and sign in.<\/li>\n<li>Look for the <strong>protocol handler icon<\/strong> (two grey overlapping diamonds) on the right side of the address bar, next to the bookmark star.<\/li>\n<li>Click it, choose <strong>Allow<\/strong> so mail.google.com can open all email links, and click <strong>Done<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43037\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/gmail-handlers.png\" alt=\"Allow Gmail to open mailto links in Chrome\" width=\"263\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/gmail-handlers.png 263w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/gmail-handlers-150x100.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dont_see_the_diamond_icon\"><\/span>Don&#8217;t see the diamond icon?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure you&#8217;re on the Gmail page itself, not another Google page.<\/li>\n<li>Go to <strong>chrome:\/\/settings\/handlers<\/strong> (Settings \u2192 Privacy and security \u2192 Site settings \u2192 Additional permissions \u2192 Protocol handlers) and turn on <strong>Sites can ask to handle protocols<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Check that mail.google.com isn&#8217;t listed under &#8220;Not allowed to handle protocols&#8221;. If it is, remove it and reload Gmail.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-43039 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/mail-handlers.png\" alt=\"Chrome protocol handlers setting\" width=\"450\" height=\"124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/mail-handlers.png 450w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/mail-handlers-150x41.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/mail-handlers-300x83.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-43040 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/gmail-protocol.png\" alt=\"Gmail set as mailto protocol handler\" width=\"387\" height=\"144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/gmail-protocol.png 387w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/gmail-protocol-150x56.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/gmail-protocol-300x112.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 387px) 100vw, 387px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Make_Chrome_your_default_email_app\"><\/span>Make Chrome your default email app<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Chrome can only pass email links to Gmail if your computer sends mailto links to Chrome first.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Windows 11:<\/strong> open <strong>Settings \u2192 Apps \u2192 Default apps<\/strong>, search for <strong>MAILTO<\/strong> under &#8220;Set a default for a file type or link type&#8221;, and choose <strong>Google Chrome<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows 10:<\/strong> open <strong>Settings \u2192 Apps \u2192 Default apps \u2192 Email<\/strong> and pick Google Chrome.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mac:<\/strong> open the <strong>Mail<\/strong> app, go to <strong>Mail \u2192 Settings \u2192 General<\/strong>, and set <strong>Default email reader<\/strong> to Google Chrome.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Open_mailto_links_in_Gmail_in_other_browsers\"><\/span>Open mailto links in Gmail in other browsers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Microsoft Edge:<\/strong> works like Chrome. Open Gmail, click the handler icon in the address bar and allow it, or check <strong>edge:\/\/settings\/content\/handlers<\/strong>. Then make Edge the default for MAILTO links.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Firefox:<\/strong> go to <strong>Settings \u2192 General \u2192 Applications<\/strong>, find <strong>mailto<\/strong> and choose <strong>Use Gmail<\/strong>. If Gmail isn&#8217;t listed, open Gmail first so Firefox can register it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Safari:<\/strong> Safari can&#8217;t send email links to Gmail on the web by itself. Use Chrome or Firefox as described above, or install a small helper extension.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Open_email_links_in_the_Gmail_app_on_your_phone\"><\/span>Open email links in the Gmail app on your phone<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>iPhone and iPad:<\/strong> install the Gmail app, then go to <strong>Settings \u2192 Apps \u2192 Default Apps \u2192 Email<\/strong> (or Settings \u2192 Gmail \u2192 Default Mail App on older iOS versions) and choose Gmail.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Android:<\/strong> Gmail is usually the default already. If another app opens, go to <strong>Settings \u2192 Apps \u2192 Default apps<\/strong> or clear the other app&#8217;s &#8220;Open by default&#8221; setting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_asked_questions\"><\/span>Frequently asked questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_do_mailto_links_still_open_Outlook\"><\/span>Why do mailto links still open Outlook?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Your computer&#8217;s default email app is still Outlook. Set Chrome (or your browser) as the default app for MAILTO links, and allow Gmail as the handler inside the browser.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_use_a_different_Gmail_account_for_mailto_links\"><\/span>Can I use a different Gmail account for mailto links?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Gmail opens in the account you&#8217;re signed in to first. Switch accounts in the compose window if needed, or sign in with your preferred account first.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_I_stop_mailto_links_opening_in_Gmail\"><\/span>How do I stop mailto links opening in Gmail?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In Chrome, go to chrome:\/\/settings\/handlers and remove mail.google.com from the allowed list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Click an email address on a website and Outlook or the Mail app pops up, when you actually use Gmail?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":63311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-43035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apps","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63314,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43035\/revisions\/63314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}