Cannot Set Default Mail App in El Capitan

I've been struggling with this issue for days. I followed a previous link in the post to a fix that worked like a charm.

Normally, your change to default email client is saved by LaunchServices, but that database can become corrupted. You can reset the database with the following command in Terminal (copy-paste the whole thing):

The "reset defaults" suggested has been fine for me...

Simply copy and past this into the terminal:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchSe rvices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -all local,system,user

Hi All,

I've had the same problem since I installed Outlook 2016. This has just worked for me:

1. Run 'First Aid' on Macintosh HD from within Disk Utility.

2. Quit all open email clients.

3. Reopen Apple Mail then go to preferences > general > default email reader and select your preferred email client.

4. Quit Apple Mail and reopen. Check under the default email reader option - mine stuck after performing the above steps.

I assume there was some sort of corrupt preference or file, caused during the process of upgrading to El Capitan, which prevented Mac OS from being able to 'remember' your default application choice. Running 'First Aid' aka 'verify permissions' must have been able to correct this.

I hope this helps!

I'm running OS X 10.11.3, Mail 9.2 (3112) and Outlook 15.15 (151008) on a mid 2012 MacBook Air.

Hello,

After looking into the issue further I found another way to set outlook/mail as a default outside of the annoying auto-reverting mail preferences tab. Right clicking a mail doc, open with, selecting your preferred server and ticking the box 'always open with' is just another dead end. However, right clicking the mail doc --> get info and expanding the 'open with' section gives you the same option. Selecting your chosen client will than present with a "change all button". This defaults any mail doc in future to open with your selection. You may also notice that it appears with (default) next to the client when selecting open with in future.

This worked for me on a couple of el capitan computers after restarts and other testing. This solution is not effected by whatever the default in apple mail preferences is.

Just solved the same issue on my mac. It is the problem from Chrome, not Outlook or Mail.

1. Copy paste this in chrome browser: chrome://settings/handlers

2. Protocol handlers mail to: none

3. Open Mail

4. Mail > Preferences > Default Email Reader > (change to) Mail x.x

5. Enjoy!

Alright so this may seem crazy, but try deleting the .Spotlight-V100 folder on the root drive
sudo rm -Rf .Spotlight-V100/

(This will delete your Spotlight Cache)

Then kickstart spotlight's re-indexing with

sudo mdutil -E /

After that try setting the default mail client again.

This worked for me. My theory is that if spotlight is for some reason corrupt or not searching correctly Apple Mail isn't able to properly set the default Mail application. (It must be using spotlight to accomplish this somehow).

If this fixes it for anyone else I'd be very curious to know!

Hope this helps.

Hi txredneckcub, Your answer was absolutely the most helpful of all that I read. I had set my default mail client to MS-Outlook when Mail was giving me problems. When I tried to set it back to Mail after Mail was fixed, it kept on reverting to MS-Outlook. So, per your advise, I went to Mail --> Preferences --> General --> Default mail reader drop-down --> Select...; then, I selected MS-Outlook from the Applications window. I then repeated the procedure, but, this time, I selected Mail from the Applications window and it worked! Thanks a million!

I was successfully able to change the default mail reader by going to Apple Mail --> [Preferences]. Under [Genera], do NOT select the application you want to switch to from the drop-down. Click [Select] from the drop-down options and browse for the appropriate mail application you want to use. Select it from here. Close/quit the Apple Mail application. Re-open Apple Mail application and you will see that your selection has been saved.

I simply unchecked the 'Make Outlook the default application for email etc" in Outlook Preferences and it allowed Apple Mail to stay selected in Apple Mail Pref dropdown menu.

I just had the same issue and the following worked for me:

In finder, find the Microsoft Outlook app in your Apps folder and simply rename it to something like 'Old Microsoft Outlook'. Then reopen Mail and change the default mail reader to Mail.

This prevented my Mac from reverting back to Outlook as the default.

Hope this helps.

Matt

Thank you Linc Davis. Resetting the Launch Services worked to resolve my issue. I had a similar issue but couldn't change the default app FROM mail to another client. It kept reverting back. Running through the reset process now has all of that working again, and my 'share' function in Safari is working with the proper mail client as well.

Execute this in Terminal:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchSe rvices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -seed

I also had this issue where Outlook could not be set - it kept defaulting back to Mail app every time I quit Mail.

I ran the command to reset LaunchServices: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchS ervices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -all local,system,user

...and when I opened Mail again and went into Preferences it correctly showed Outlook. This seems to have now stuck.

I had this problem and the solution having read a few posts online was to run Firstaid on your disk, under the Disk utility app and then it held straight away.

Hope this works for you.

"I don't use Office, but knowing Microsoft, it may be forcing you to use Outlook as your default email reader."

You really believe Microsoft setup Outlook so that it locks you out of changing it from the default mail app?

I was able to fix this issue with the recommended Disk Utility > First Aid, wondering if it was a permissions error? Thanks for the help everyone!

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