The Mac is a productivity machine, no doubt, and yet, its inbuilt stock email client “Mail” has never been up to the mark. We often find ourselves installing third-party email clients (Airmail is our favorite), or just use Gmail from the browser.
If you belong to that second category of people who prefer using Gmail right from the browser, then this post will be a lifesaver for you. We’re going to show you how to make Gmail your default mail app in Mac.
Joy and happiness all around!!
NOTE: We’ll be covering both Safari and Chrome. In each case, you’ll need to be logged into Gmail from that browser before we continue with the setup.
Safari
1. Click on this link to download the installation file for a third-party “mailto” extension.
2. Open Safari and log into Gmail.
3. Double click the extension file to install it in Safari.
4. Click “Trust” when a prompt window pops us.
5. In the next window click on “Options”, and in the list that follows, make sure to check the “Gmail” box. There are other email services that you can choose from that list as well, so pick whichever you use frequently.
6. Quit Safari and relaunch it, and you’re good to go!
Chrome
1. When you open Gmail in Chrome, you should see a “handler” icon in your address bar. Click it and choose “Allow” from the pop-down menu. Click Done.
2. Alternatively, type in chrome://settings/handlers/ in the address bar and hit enter.
3. Under the Active Protocol Handlers list, change the “mailto” section to “mail.google.com”. And you’re good to go.
You can also see this small tutorial video to understand the process more clearly. Note that the video also contains instructions for Firefox, so those who use that browser should not feel left out.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8GXYCBUTNE&w=560&h=315]
We hope you’ll find this post useful. In case there are any questions or clarifications, do not hesitate to write to us. We’ll be more than happy to help!