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How to set Outlook/Gmail as your Default Mail Client
How to set Outlook/Gmail as your Default Mail Client

Quick troubleshooting guide if you can't share resumes with your colleagues or send them to the Hiring Manager

Irit Lovenberg avatar
Written by Irit Lovenberg
Updated over a week ago

In case you encounter a problem when sharing resumes with colleagues or sending them to the Hiring Manager, or the link simply doesn't open at all, chances are you need to configure your default mail client. 

How to Set Outlook as the Default Mail Client:

For Windows users:

1. First press the windows key + R 

2. A window will appear, write “control panel” and then click “Ok”.

3. Once you’ve done that the control panel will open and you should search for “default programs”.

 4. Next click on “Set program access and computer defaults”.

5. Under Email click the Mail Icon

6. Select Outlook from the list to make it your default choice.

This how it should look like after you’ve selected Outlook.

7. Make sure Default apps is selected from the menu under Apps (left-hand side). Scroll all the way down and click-on “Choose default apps by protocol”.

8. Scroll down the list of protocols until you find a MAILTO entry. On the right side you should see Outlook. If you see something other than Outlook, click on it and update it to Outlook.

There you have it, Outlook has now been configured as your default mail app.

For Mac users:

1. Open finder app
2. Click on Applications

3. Click on Mail.app

4. Click on Mail - top left of the screen

5. Go to settings

6. Change the Default email reader to Outlook

How to Set Gmail as the Default Mail Client with Chrome:

1. Click the small icon with the three dots on the right side of the address bar. 

2. Next, click “Settings”, the third option from the bottom.

3. On the left-side of the screen you will see an “Advanced” option, click on it and additional options will be revealed. The first option should be “Privacy and security”, click on it.

4. Now, click on “Site Settings”.

5. Scroll down this set of options until you see “Handlers” and click on it. If you aren't able to locate the "Handlers" copy-paste chrome://settings/handlers into your URL and it will bring you to the "Handlers" page.

6.  Make sure to change this setting to the on position, as shown below. (If it's already switched on, switch it off and on again).

7. Open Gmail in the Chrome browser. If your Gmail was already open, make sure to refresh the page.

8. At the end of the address bar, you will see a grey icon that looks like two diamonds intertwined. Click on the icon and a drop-down menu will appear.

**For some, the two diamonds appear at the beginning of the address bar with the option to 'Allow or Block'. Make sure to click Allow.

**In case you are not seeing the two diamonds, follow step 6 again and switch the option on and off. Go to Gmail, refresh the page, you should then be prompted with the option.**

9. Click “Allow” in the drop down menu and then hit “Done”.

If you wish to double check that it worked, go back to the Settings - Handlers page, you should see Gmail set as default.

Now you will need to adjust the configurations in your control panel:

  1. First press the windows key + R 

2. A window will appear, write “control panel” and then click “Ok”.

3. Once you’ve done that the control panel will open and you should search for “default programs”.

4. Next click on “Set program access and computer defaults”.

5. Under Email click the Mail Icon

11. Select “Google Chrome” from the list to make it your default choice.

All mailto links will now open in Gmail if they come from your Chrome browser.

How to Set Gmail as the Default Mail Client with Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer and download the Google Toolbar via this link.

2. Enable Google Toolbar in the Internet Explorer browser. Click the cog on the top right, it will open a menu. Click “Manage add-ons”.

3. A new window should open. Ensure that the Google Toolbar is selected. At the bottom of the window you will be able to click “Enable”. This will ensure that Google Toolbar has been enabled on the Internet Explorer browser.

4. Click the wrench icon on the upper-righthand corner of your browser.

5. Scroll down the "Toolbar Options" in the “General” section and select ‘Use Gmail for “Mail To” links.’

6. Click “Save” at the bottom of the “Toolbar Options” window and you have now set Gmail as your default mail client.

How to set Gmail as the Default Mail Client using Code:

In case all the configurations above don't work, follow this flow:

  1. Go to your Gmail tab

  2. Open the Console tab (right client on the Screen -> Inspect -> Console).

  3. Paste in the following command and click on "Enter":

navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto", "https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s", "Gmail");

4. Click on Approve in the pop-up that will appear.

In case the configurations don't work, you can simply go back and chat with us, and will gladly assist.

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