Windows 7 Mailto with Gmail in Chrome

Hello,

I just downloaded google chrome ver 3.0.195.27. I cannot get any mailto links to open in gmail.
Mailto does not come up when i go to "associate a file type or protocol with a program" and then i've just looked into "set program access and computer defaults". For choose a default email program all i get is "use my current email program"

I would like it so anytime i clicked an email link anywhere on my computer it opened up gmail in chrome...

...can anyone give me a hand with this?

Thanks.

 

[ChatGPT]

Hi tgallen,
This is a common issue when trying to set Gmail as your default email client on Windows. Since Gmail is a web service, it doesn’t natively appear in Windows’ list of default email programs, but you can work around it by having Windows pass mailto links to Chrome with the appropriate parameters.
Below are two approaches you could try:

• Using a Registry Hack:
  You can create a registry file to associate the mailto protocol with Chrome. For example, create a file named “gmail_mailto.reg” with the following content (make sure to adjust the path to chrome.exe if it's installed in a different location):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto]
@="URL:MailTo Protocol"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto\shell\open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe\" \"https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=%1\""
[CODE]

Double-click the file to merge it into your registry. This instructs Windows to launch Chrome with a URL that opens Gmail’s compose screen whenever you click a mailto link.  
[INDENT]Note: Always back up your registry before making changes and ensure you have administrative privileges.[/INDENT]

[*][B]Using a Chrome Extension:[/B]  
There are extensions available (such as “Mailto for Gmail”) that can intercept mailto links once Chrome is running. With this method, you might first set Chrome as your default email handler (using the registry hack or another method), and then let the extension convert the mailto URL into Gmail’s compose interface.

[/LIST]

Once set up with either method, clicking on any mailto link on your computer should open Gmail in Chrome with the compose window and the recipient’s address prefilled.

Hope this helps get your Gmail mailto links working the way you want!

Cheers,  
tgallen