Google Apps As Default Email Client

Edit
Delete
Tags
Autopost

Google Apps As Default Email Client

I have for some time been using Google Apps for our domains email service. It was cheaper to run than the Exchange set-up and means I do not have to worry about keeping the mail server up to date, spam filtering, restarting the server when it all goes to ahem!

I also ditched Outlook 2007 as it just kept complaining about the size of my pst files. Now I am used to the Google Apps (Gmail) interface it is actually better and easier to use.

However the common problem I suffered was when you come across a mailto: link on a web page or document. I could not use this to send via Google Apps. Instead I would need to cut and paste the email address.

Well I have now found how to do this. If log into your primary Google Apps domain administrator account click "Manage This Domain > Advanced Tools" and then scroll right down o the bottom there is a section called Google Apps desktop features. From here you can download the desktop features pack which is specific to your Google Apps domain.

Once this is installed you can set your default email client to "Gmail: A Google approach to email".

Now when I click a mailto: link a Gmail compose window is launched. It does use a Google Chrome hybrid but you do not need to install this separately.

25 June 2009
Views
31 Comments
Permalink
Tweet

31 responses
Like
Comment

over 2 years ago Shin K. responded:

Wow. Nice Tip... I also have same configuration as you are..Will try the desktop feature in this minute! :D

over 2 years ago Andy Gambles responded:

Let me know if you get it working

over 2 years ago shahryar (Twitter) responded:

Green_shirt_india_trip_picture_cropped_atttempt_4_-_face_only_normal

Did not know this, Thanks for this. One other thing that bothers me about using gmail over Outlook (or Lotus, etc) is working with attachments. If you have to put the attachment from a message in another message, you have to save to desktop, then attach, etc. I wish you could do drag and drops

over 2 years ago Andy Gambles responded:

@shahryar Probably a limitation of being web based. But you can make a suggestion at http://bit.ly/2DsRYa -

over 2 years ago shahryar (Twitter) responded:

Just did Andy,thanks for the link

"make working with attachments a little easier. I hate when I get an attachment, I have to save to my computer and then attach to a different email.

Also don't auto make my emails conversations. Sometimes, I like them to be separate. Sometimes, I like emails with different subjects to be part of the same conversation"

over 2 years ago Scott responded:

still not working, I still get a Gmail account log-in

over 2 years ago Andy Gambles responded:

Scott - did you download the Google Apps Desktop from within your Google Apps account?

over 2 years ago dantelayton (Twitter) responded:

Thanks for taking the time to write this post. I found it in a google search and it works like a charm. I love tea too!

over 2 years ago Andy Gambles responded:

@dantelayton Glad you found it useful.

about 2 years ago Joey Brannon responded:

excellent help. This was driving me nuts. There's all kinds of stuff out there that says gmail notifier does not work with Google Apps but this is the only place I've found a solution for the default email issue. Thanks for taking the time to point it out.

about 2 years ago Andy Gambles responded:

Joey - Glad you found the article useful. Good to know it was worth posting!

about 2 years ago Troy Dunn responded:

Thank you for this helpful tip! Our office just migrated from Outlook to Gmail and we were getting a lot of requests to set this up. This was very helpful and it was easy to setup.

about 2 years ago alex responded:

perfect!
alex at skeptiko.com

about 2 years ago Andrew responded:

Thank you!!!!!! Google help doesn't even suggest this and I've been frustrated ever since I switched to apps, now I'm totally in love with it as long as my Google Talk as the notifier works...Thank you again for posting this!

over 1 year ago shaun responded:

The app will install on a windows 2000 OS but Chrome will not install so it's a no go for me.

over 1 year ago Andy Gambles responded:

You do not need to install chrome for this to work.

over 1 year ago Alun Kane responded:

I keep getting a message when I click on a mail-to link in IE, saying I need to have Chrome installed? - Our office prefer not to use Chrome - any workaround / suggestions would be much appreciated

over 1 year ago jim responded:

I may be slow...
You said 'Once this is installed you can set your default email client to "Gmail: A Google approach to email".'
But how do you do it? I can launch the email into a chrome window, but what then?

Thanks
Jim

over 1 year ago Andy Gambles responded:

@jim For windows systems: Launch the Internet Options dialogue for your system. This is available in the Control Panel.

Under the Programs tab you can select gmail as the default mail client.

over 1 year ago Jim responded:

Andy,

Thanks for the response. After I posted the question I did find how to do it, but I still can't get it to work from programs like adobe reader or our accounting program. It does work from a web page link.
I used to get an error message from outlook, so I removed outlook and reinstalled the Apps. Now it works from the web page link , but from reader I get a "error occurred while sending mail" message and from our accounting program the message is " email session could not be started. Please check your MAPI installation."

So I'm not sure where to go next.
Any ideas.

Thanks
Jim Haskin
R&F Handmade Paints, inc.
www.rfpaints.com

over 1 year ago Andy Gambles responded:

I think it is to do with how adobe works and requires an actual program to launch. Best thing to do would be to ask Adobe.

Sorry i could not be of more help.

over 1 year ago Piers Allbrook responded:

Still launches Gmail account not my GMail (google apps account)

over 1 year ago Andy Gambles responded:

@Piers You need to log out of gmail and in to Google Apps. Then when it launches it will be the compose for Google Apps.

over 1 year ago Eric Black responded:

Andy, back in May you said " You do not need to install chrome for this to work. " but mine still comes up needing Chrome installed to work. I have about 30 windows machines running anything from XP to Windows 7 and would like this to work for Internet Explorer. When i do install Chrome it then opens the clicked email link in Chrome and not in IE. Any ideas?

over 1 year ago Daved1948 responded:

All I gotta say is...Wow!

I've been scouring the net (using Chrome of course) for weeks now, looking for a rock-solid way to set my Google Apps Mail account as the "default" with all Windows apps. This did the trick - but for some reason it's not easily found on the Web. There were lots of other hits for 3-party solutions, but none of them allowed the Google Apps

Excluding the Adobe issue (which isn't the only thing Adobe doesn't do well), the Google Apps Desktop Features tool is absolutely fantastic.

A note to others...

I apparently already had this installed and it kept launching my regular gmail account. After attempting a reinstallation, it would not change the account to my Google Apps business account.

To fix this, I had to manually edit the shortcut to read:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Apps\googleapps.exe" --domain=<my-domain-name>.com --mail.google.com

and then had to run the Default Programs tool to beat it into submission. Windows 7's Default Programs selector is a bit obtuse to work with, but eventually I got it right.

Thanks for posting this.

about 1 year ago Thad responded:

Thanks for this! I was able to get it to work fine using chrome but it still tries to get me to create a gmail account when using FireFox. Anyone else have this issue?

12 months ago Brent responded:

Andy-

Do you have any clue to get this to work when you use MULTIPLE Google Apps accounts? I have several accounts, but use 2 apps accounts on a daily basis, and use 2 gmail accounts on a daily basis. Do you know if it gives you the option to choose which account you want to send mail from? Or does it just pick the most recent account that you've logged in from?

10 months ago Waldo responded:

Daved1948 -- Thank you for your tip on making the adjustment to the shortcut(s) so it wouldn't open my gmail account. I had been trying to figure this out for a couple of hours.

6 months ago Alejandro responded:

Does this pass the attacments as well to the compose windows?

I have not been able to register this as the defaul email app in windows 7.
It simply does not show up as an option

6 months ago Andy Gambles responded:

@Alejandro - It does not pass the attachments. I have also not tested on Windows 7 so I am not sure if it works.

17 days ago Brenda responded:

You are great! Thank you!!

Andy Gambles

Google Apps As Default Email Client

Andy Gambles's Space

Archive

About Andy Gambles

My Websites

Organisations

Useful Links

Follow Me