How to Get Email Links to Open in Chrome Instead of Your Default Email App

In most web browsers, clicking on an email address link on a website will trigger a client like Outlook or Entourage to open, instead of your Brown Google email account. You can configure your browser to use your Brown Google Mail instead.

Chrome is a browser created by Google and its the best browser to use with Gmail. If you dont have Chrome and would like to install it, visit http://www.google.com/chrome. If you prefer to use another browser, see the links to instructions at the bottom of this article.

The setting might have been already set. You might need to remove the setting and try again.

3. In the setting, click the three dots to the right of mail.google.com to remove the setting. It also helps to click “Dont allow sites to handle protocols” and then turn it back on. This should allow you to follow the original steps above

When you click on a link in an email it typically opens up your default email app like Gmail or Outlook. However you may prefer to have email links open directly in your Chrome browser instead. There are a few simple tweaks you can make to get email links to open in Chrome.

Why Open Email Links in Chrome?

There are a few key reasons why you may want your email links to open in Chrome rather than your default email app:

  • Stay in browser Opening links in Chrome allows you to stay in the browser without switching to another app, This can be especially convenient if you use web apps like Gmail,

  • Access bookmarks/history: With the link in Chrome, you can easily access any relevant bookmarks or history related to the site.

  • View web page version: Email apps sometimes display a stripped-down version of a linked web page. Viewing it directly in Chrome shows the full page.

  • Ad/pop-up blocking: Chrome has built-in ad and pop-up blocking that provides a cleaner viewing experience. Email apps don’t necessarily have the same protections.

  • Incognito mode: You can open email links in an incognito Chrome window to avoid leaving traces in your browser history.

  • Customize experience: Chrome allows full customization of your browsing experience through extensions, themes, bookmarks, and settings.

How Email Links Work

To understand how to get email links to open in Chrome, you first need to know the default behavior:

  • Email clients register their own protocol handlers to handle links starting with “mailto:”.

  • When you click a “mailto:” link, it launches your default email app like Outlook or Apple Mail.

  • Web links starting with “http://” or “https://” work similarly. Whichever browser is set as default handles these links.

  • Chrome and most other browsers use the operating system defaults set for email and web links.

So getting email links to open in Chrome requires changing which protocol handler is used for “mailto:” links specifically.

Change Default Mailto Handler in Chrome

Here are the steps to get Chrome to handle “mailto:” links instead of your default email app:

  1. Open Chrome and navigate to Settings

    • Click the 3-dot menu in the top right and select Settings. This takes you to the Chrome settings page.
  2. Click “Default apps” under “People”

    • Scroll down and click the “Default apps” option.
  3. Select “Mailto links”

    • This will show you which app is currently set to handle “mailto:” links. Click the dropdown and select “Google Chrome” instead.
  4. Confirm change to Chrome for handling mailto links

    • A popup will ask you to confirm setting Chrome as the default app for mailto links. Click “Make Default”.

That’s it! Now mailto links should open directly within Chrome.

One thing to note is that this change only affects Chrome. If you click a mailto link in another browser like Firefox or Edge, it will still open your default email app. You would need to update the handler settings individually in each browser you use.

Alternative: Change Default Web Browser

Rather than changing the mailto handler specifically, another option is to simply set Chrome as your overall default web browser. Here’s how:

On Windows 10:

  1. Open the Start menu and select “Settings”

  2. Click “Apps” and then “Default apps”

  3. Under “Web browser”, select Google Chrome from the dropdown

  4. Click “Set default” to confirm

On Mac:

  1. Click the Apple icon in the top left and choose “System Preferences”

  2. Select “General”

  3. Under “Default web browser”, pick Google Chrome

  4. Close out of System Preferences

With Chrome set as your default browser, mailto links will automatically open within it. The downside to this approach is that you have to keep Chrome set as default to maintain the behavior.

Troubleshooting Tips

If email links still refuse to open in Chrome after setting it as the default handler, try these tips:

  • Restart Chrome after changing the handler setting to ensure it sticks.

  • Temporarily disable any other email apps like Outlook to prevent conflict.

  • Check Chrome extensions for any that may override the mailto handling.

  • For desktop mail apps, look for internal settings related to handling links.

  • On an iOS device, go to Settings > Chrome > Default Browser App and select Chrome.

  • On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Browser app and select Chrome.

  • As a workaround, right-click on a mailto link and select “Open in new Chrome tab” manually.

Customize the Handling Further

Once you have email links opening in Chrome by default, you can customize what happens next:

  • Right-click on a mailto link and select “Open link in incognito window” for private browsing.

  • Use a Chrome extension like Mailto to choose whether links open in a new tab, new window, etc.

  • Install the Gmail Offline Chrome extension to directly open Gmail for mailto links while offline.

  • Bookmark key mailto links you use frequently for quick access later.

  • Adjust Chrome’s privacy settings, extensions, themes, layout, and more to optimize the experience.

  • Open a mailto link in one Chrome window while doing other browsing tasks in a second window.

Although email apps handle mailto links by default, it is easy to get them to open directly in Chrome instead. Just change the default handler for mailto in Chrome’s settings or set Chrome as your operating system’s default web browser. With email links now opening in Chrome, you can take full advantage of Chrome’s customization options, security protections, and convenience.

how to get email links to open in chrome

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Fix Email Links So They Open In gmail Chrome

How to open email links in Google Chrome?

Follow this article step by step and after doing these changes, all the email links will be opened in Google Chrom e browser on your computer. 1. Click on the Search box and type “ chrome “, click on “ Google Chrome ” in the elevated search result to open the Google Chrome window on your computer. 2.

How do I set up Google Chrome for mailto links?

Select “Apps” and then click on “Default apps” in the left sidebar. Open the Apple menu and select “System Preferences.” Click on “Internet Accounts” and ensure that your email account is set up to use Google Chrome for mailto links.

Why are my email links opening in a browser other than Google Chrome?

If you find that email links are opening in a browser or email client other than Google Chrome, it may indicate that the default email handler settings are not configured correctly. To troubleshoot this issue, follow these steps: Select “Apps” and then click on “Default apps” in the left sidebar.

How do I allow Gmail to open all email links?

Allow Gmail to open all email links. At the end of your URL’s address bar, you’ll see a new icon that looks like two gray diamonds intertwined with each other. Click this icon and you’ll see the following dropdown menu: Click “Allow” in response to the question Chrome asks you, as shown above, and then hit Done.

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