HT204093: Use Mail on your Mac

Learn about Use Mail on your Mac
Syn0324

Q: How do I set Google Mail as my default mail preference?

If I am on Google's site and I want to forward a page via email, how do I set my Google mailbox as my default sender?

Posted on Aug 17, 2016 7:22 AM

Close

Q: How do I set Google Mail as my default mail preference?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Camelot,Helpful

    Camelot Camelot Aug 18, 2016 3:01 PM in response to Syn0324
    Level 8 (47,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2016 3:01 PM in response to Syn0324

    Do you mean:

     

    Mail -> Preferences -> Composing -> Send new messages from: <pick an account>

  • by Syn0324,

    Syn0324 Syn0324 Aug 18, 2016 3:04 PM in response to Syn0324
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2016 3:04 PM in response to Syn0324

    No, I mean if I am on Google, and I want to email a page location to someone, how can I set my Google mail account as my default mail account and not Apple mail.

     

    Thank you,

    Cindy

  • by Camelot,

    Camelot Camelot Aug 18, 2016 3:35 PM in response to Syn0324
    Level 8 (47,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2016 3:35 PM in response to Syn0324

    There is no such thing as a 'default account' in that respect.


    What you do have is a default mail application, which is what the OS will launch any time you click a mailto:// URL. In most cases this is set to Mail.app, but it could be set to any other mail application.

    Once you click such a link and the relevant application is launched, it's up to that application to generate a message using whatever defaults that application uses (for example, using the setup I described above).

     

    So for example, you could have Mail.app handle your personal/corporate/iCloud mail and use Thunderbird to handle your gmail account, then set Thunderbird as the handler for mailto links.

     

    However, you can't easily specify different mail applications (and therefore different mail account defaults) for different types of links (e.g. mailto links on google.com vs. mailto links on some other site).

  • by Syn0324,

    Syn0324 Syn0324 Aug 18, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Syn0324
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Syn0324

    Do I have Thunderbird?  I am new to Apple.  I am used to Windows.  If I have Thunderbird, how do I set it up?

     

    Thank you,

    Cindy