How to specify a webmail service (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail) as your default email program in OS X

September 16th, 2007 by Ross McKillop |  Print This Post

I recently stumbled across a fantastic little program that allows you to specify a webmail service (like Gmail, Yahoo mail, Hotmail etc) as your default email program. When you click on a mailto: link, instead of Mail opening, your specified webmail service will launch in your default browser, with the email address pre-filled in a “compose” window. This tutorial will guide you through installing and setting up Webmailer for OS X.

It’s also very much worth noting - the author of this software is very helpful. I had some non-default Firefox about:config ‘issues’ that stopped this software from working correctly in Firefox. He worked with me to identify the problem and everything works perfectly now. So - not only is the software free - it’s useful, and the author is helpful. Really - what more can you ask for?

1. Start by downloading Webmailer. Open the .dmg file and double click the Webmailer.prefPane file.



2. If Webmailer doesn’t open on its own (or you want to make changes in the future) it can be found in the Other section of your System Preferences.


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3. First, select Webmailer.app as your Default E-mail Application:.


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4. Then select the webmail service you want to use, and click the Choose button.


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5. A small green icon will appear next to your selected webmail service. Close out of Webmailer and click on any mailto: link (commonly found on websites etc). The webmail service you selected will launch a “compose” window in your default browser, with the email address pre-filled. That’s it!


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6. If the webmail service of your choice isn’t listed in the default selections, you can actually create your own by following the instructions found in the Webmailer readme file.