Talk:Default mail client

Safari question

1. In Safari, choose "Preferences" from the menu.
2. Click the "General" icon, and choose Thunderbird from the default mail reader pop-up menu. If you dont see Thunderbird in the list, make sure it is in the "Applications" folder.

There is no "default mail reader pop-up menu" in the location stated above.

Windows 2000: setting Thunderbird as default mail application fails

Problem

Thunderbird opens when I click "Read e-mail" from the Internet Explorer "Tools" menu, but OE is launched instead when I click an URL of the form mailto:...

Tried solutions

To fix this I tried both, Thunderbird's Options and Windows "Set Program Access and Defaults" (SPAD) but to no avail :-(

Also every time I start Thunderbird, a window pops up asking me if I want to use Thunderbird as the default mail application. Although I click "yes", the window appears again the next time I start Thunderbird.

Reading papers...

KB q297878 states:

Registration as the default Start menu e-mail application is different from registration as the system default e-mail client or the registered mailto handler. The system default e-mail client is started when the user clicks "Read e-mail" from the Internet Explorer "Tools" menu. The registered mailto handler is launched when the user clicks an URL of the form mailto:someone@microsoft.com. The Start menu e-mail application is used when the user clicks the E-mail icon on the Start menu.

MSDN: Registering Programs with Client Types states:

Mail Client Registration For a mail client, the program needs to have registered settings under the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto key in order to service URLs that use the mailto protocol. Set values and keys that mirror those settings under the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Clients/Mail/CanonicalName/Protocols/mailto. This entire registry hierarchy replaces the existing mailto registry hierarchy found at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto.

Analysis

Obviously Thunderbird fails to follow Microsoft registration procedure as my HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto is a copy of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Clients/Mail/Outlook Express/Protocols/mailto. :-(

Mozilla's Internet-related entries in the Windows registry mentions Mozilla having the same problem:

However, Mozilla specifically does not set up HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto to point to Mozilla.

Fix

To register Thunderbird as the mailto handler manually, open regedit and replace the existing mailto registry hierarchy found at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto with the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Clients/Mail/Mozilla Thunderbird/Protocols/mailto registry hierarchy.

Daniel29 22:18, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Mozilla's Internet-related entries in the Windows registry is broken and its not listed in the wayback machine. Any suggestions on an alternative? Tanstaafl 18:54, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Linux (Gnome)

To Set Thunderbird as the default Mail application within Gnome:

• Go to "System -> Preferences -> Personal -> Preferred Applications".
• Select "Thunderbird Mail" from the pull down list and then Close.
• If "Thunderbird Mail" is not present, select "Custom Mail Reader", and type "thunderbird %s" in the box. You should replace "thunderbird" by the full path to the thunderbird executable if it is not in the PATH.

To set Thunderbird as the mail application in Linux when operating in Firefox and using its menus, or when activating an email link on a Firefox page:

1. In Firefox's Location (URL) Bar, enter "about:config" and then press <enter> or click "Go".
2. With the cursor in the body of the resulting page, <right-click> the mouse.
3. From the pop-up menu, select "New".
4. From the next pop-up menu, select "String".
5. In the pop-up dialog box "Enter preference name", enter "network.protocol-handler.app.mailto" (without quotes), and click "OK" (You might wish to cut-and-paste that phrase to ensure correct spelling).
6. In the pop-up dialog box "? network.protocol-handler.app.mailto", enter "/usr/bin/thunderbird" without quotes [or the actual filesystem location of your desired email client] and click "OK". This should be the Full Path of the program, i.e. "/usr/bin/thunderbird", not just the path "/usr/bin".

Without restarting Firefox, you can test by opening or switching to another tab. from the Firefox top menu select, "File -> Send Link". Your desired email client should open. If that doesn't happen, redo your steps, ensuring the spelling of your entries is correct, and ensure the actual Full Path of your desired mail client is entered.