Use GMail as Default Mail Application–Opening Mailto: Links

One frustrating thing about using Gmail for mail is clicking e-mail addresses won’t take you into Gmail. Fortunately, there’s two different ways you can accomplish this.

Google Notifier

The first and easiest method is using Google Notifier for OS X, which adds a Gmail icon in your menubar:

The Google Notifier is nice because it notifies you of new mail in addition to using GMail for e-mail links.

The only downside to this method is it requires Google Notifier to be running for the e-mail link to work. It will launch Google Notifier if not already running, which adds a small delay.

GmailTo

The other method is to use Gmailto, an application designed specifically for forwarding mailto: links to Gmail. I prefer this method because its small and efficient and doesn’t require any extra software launching.

After downloading Gmailto, open Mail.app Preferences (or Default Apps) and change the “Default email reader” to Gmailto.

Close and you’re ready to use Gmail as your default email client. Test using this link.

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Written by Brad Jasper on March 24, 2008 at 8:58 pm - Use GMail as Default Mail Application–Opening Mailto: Links has 7 comments - Categorized in Easy Tips, Mail Tips, Productivity Tips

7 Responses to “Use GMail as Default Mail Application–Opening Mailto: Links”

1. 
   Matt
   You can also use your gmail account with apple mail. Here's a How To..
   
   http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=13275&topic=12810 March 25th, 2008 at 3:11 am
   
   
2. 
   Brad Jasper
   Thanks Matt, that's a good point.
   
   IMAP support is pretty good, but I've found using the Gmail interface is actually faster for me. March 25th, 2008 at 7:20 am
   
   
3. 
   lee
   i dont know about mac but for windows there is a notifier available at http://gmailnotifier.net March 25th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
   
   
4. 
   Dave
   Mailplane is a stand alone mail app and I am in love with it. Its super easy to use and it is just amazing. Sure it costs 25 bucks but it is worth every penny! March 27th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
   
   
5. 
   Jon
   Interesting little app, but when I installed it, how come it only brings me to the gmail login page? Do I have to permanently save my username/password as a cookie to gain full access on the fly? Or is there a configuration for gmailto? March 28th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
   
   
6. 
   Brad Jasper
   Jon,
   
   I'm having the same problem recently. I could have sworn it opened a new compose window when I initially tried this. Will find out and report back.
   
   - Brad March 28th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
   
   
7. 
   Eliot
   Also, on Mac, you can set programs to launch on sign-in. So if you add notifier to your account launch list (system preferences:accounts:login items) then notifier will launch each time you log-in, and will work.
   
   This is what I did, and it worked better than gmailto, since that apparently doesn't work well on its own in os x 10.4.8 or newer. August 14th, 2008 at 9:14 am
   
   

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