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Set Gmail as the default email handler in Chrome

Follow these steps to set up Gmail as the default email handler in Google Chrome.

  • Visit http://gmail.com in Google Chrome and click the protocol handler icon overlapping-diamonds.png in your browser's address bar
    • If you don't see the icon, follow the steps below
  • Make sure Allow is selected and then click Done
    • If you don't see the protocol handler icon overlapping-diamonds.png, close all Gmail tabs
    • Go to chrome://settings/handlers
    • Remove any entries shown there using the three-dot settings menu
    • Make sure "Sites can ask to handle protocols" is selected at the top
    • Close the tab
    • Launch Gmail, and you should now see the icon at the right of the address bar
    • Click that to set Gmail as your default email handler.
    • If you still don't see the icon, restart Chrome and/or your computer

 

That's it! Now and in the future, when you click on a mailto: link, it will automatically open in Gmail.

You can also view a video on how to do this on YouTube.

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