However, you might not want to stick with the default email client forever. Thankfully, you don’t have to, as there are many ways to change your default email app on your Windows PC. Let’s get started and look at them all.
How to Change the Default Email App on Windows 11
To change your default mail app on Windows PC, open the Windows Settings menu by pressing the Win + I. When the Settings tab opens, click on the Apps option and select Default Apps.
Now head to the search menu bar and type in the name of the email you’d like to set up as the default email client. Next, click on the email client that appears.
Then click the MAILTO button and set the new default email app you’d like to use. By doing this you’ve tweaked the app that will open when you click on any “mailto:” links.
How to Change the Default Email Client on a Browser
So that was about switching your default email client through your settings menu. But there’s another way. You can also tweak the email app that opens up when you click on the mailto: links through your web browser. We’ll only look at the popular browsers—the process is similar for other similar browsers.
1. Mozilla Firefox
On your browser, click on Settings > Privacy & Security. From there, head to the Applications section, and under the Content Type box, search for the mailto option; when you find it, click on the drop-down menu in front of it and select the email client you’d like to use from now on.
2. Google Chrome
The process is quite similar to Google Chrome. If you want to open an email on, let’s say, Gmail, then you’ll have to sign in to your Gmail account first.
Then head to the Chrome Settings and select Privacy and security > Site settings. Then click on Additional permissions and select Protocol Handlers. From here, select the Sites can ask handle to handle protocols radio box, and remove the Gmail protocol from Not allowed to handle protocols.
Now go to your Gmail account and click on the handler icon; then select Allow—this will let Gmail open all your emails in the future.
Changing Your Default Email App on Windows 11
So that’s all about switching your default email client. On a similar note, while desktop email clients themselves aren’t going anywhere, there’s almost always a susceptibility of individual clients going out of fashion—just look at the Netscape or Mozilla email clients. So, from a long-term perspective, it might be better to stick with a web-based email client.
