Make Gmail The Default Email Client

I already covered how one could make Gmail the default Firefox 3 mail client which would have the effect that mailto links would be opened directly in Gmail. This did not change the default mail behavior in Windows however which was not a huge problem for me because I use Thunderbird locally and the Gmail account is available in the mail program.

Some users prefer to do everything online however and they may have a problem with the options to send mails in Windows. gAttach! (via Freeware Genius) comes to the rescue. It’s a small software for Windows that integrates Gmail nicely as the default mail client. Some applications that are compatible to that program are Windows Explorer, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat and Windows Live programs.

It also handles mailto links in web browsers. The main benefit of using gAttach! is that users can send emails and attach files to those emails from within Windows which are then handled and send by Gmail.

Each attempt at sending a file or email will open a small window asking for the Gmail login information. Gmail will be loaded afterward and the message is available as a (opened) draft with the text and files included. It’s interesting to note that the user can configure gAttach! to add the draft to Gmail without loading the Gmail interface. This is great if you want to add several mails to Gmail and send them at a later time.

Several other options can be set like enabling rich text formatting or opening Gmail in HTML or normal mode.

The usual Gmail limitations like a maximum file size of 20 Megabyte still apply obviously. It’s definitely a nice application for users who love Gmail and use it for everything. Users like me will most likely continue to work with their desktop mail client and the online version of Gmail instead.

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Tags: Email, gmail, google mail gattach, software, Windows
Categories: Email

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3 Responses to “Make Gmail The Default Email Client”

1. moin says:

   July 7, 2008 at 1:33 am

   Thats a really good technique and save a headache too nobody loves outlook express to pop up even when you accidently click on mail link, way to go gmail thanks
2. LARRY L GUREWITZ says:

   December 17, 2008 at 12:03 am

   WHAT IS THE WQUIVALENT ON THE MAC

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

1. Firefox Mail From Lets You Pick A Webmail Service says:

   July 31, 2008 at 9:47 pm

   [...] on a mailto link on a website. One article that can be seen as an example would be my How To Make Gmail The Default Mail Client article that I wrote last [...]