HT201607: Set the default email app and web browser on your Mac

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sonyasings

Q: Default Email, when MAIL has never been used

I can not set the default email, because MAIL - "Preferences" is grayed out. How do I set Outlook for MAC as my global MAC default email?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 23, 2016 8:46 AM

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Q: Default Email, when MAIL has never been used

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  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Mar 23, 2016 9:07 AM in response to sonyasings
    Level 10 (188,724 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 23, 2016 9:07 AM in response to sonyasings

    Are you logged in as administrator?

  • by sonyasings,

    sonyasings sonyasings Mar 23, 2016 9:09 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2016 9:09 AM in response to lllaass

    I am an admin, so I am assuming that the answer is yes.

  • by sonyasings,

    sonyasings sonyasings Mar 23, 2016 9:11 AM in response to sonyasings
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2016 9:11 AM in response to sonyasings

    So i attached MAIL to my exchange user, and then the PREFERENCE option comes up (and stayed even after I then removed my exchange connection). However, even after I change my DEFAULT EMAIL READER to Microsoft Outlook.app, as soon as I close it and reopen it, it changes it back to Mail.app. So the settings never stay.

  • by sonyasings,

    sonyasings sonyasings Mar 23, 2016 9:35 AM in response to sonyasings
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2016 9:35 AM in response to sonyasings

    When I closed MAIL the PREFERENCE option is back to grayed out.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Mar 24, 2016 7:53 AM in response to sonyasings
    Level 9 (71,130 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 24, 2016 7:53 AM in response to sonyasings

    If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account.  Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

                   

    Safe Mode

  • by AddisonC84,

    AddisonC84 AddisonC84 Jun 22, 2016 5:56 PM in response to sonyasings
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 22, 2016 5:56 PM in response to sonyasings

    This is from another thread & worked for me...

     

    "Although the problem is not the same, please follow the instructions in this support article to reset the Launch Services database. Instead of typing the shell command directed in the article, I suggest that you copy and paste it from the web page into the Terminal window. Make sure you select the whole line. One way to do that is by triple-clicking anywhere in the line.

    If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data before proceeding. You may have to log out or restart to see a change."

  • by Klaus1,

    Klaus1 Klaus1 Jun 23, 2016 6:56 AM in response to sonyasings
    Level 8 (48,821 points)
    Jun 23, 2016 6:56 AM in response to sonyasings

    You show as runnning OS 10.6.6. Any reason why you have not updated to 10.6.8?