Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!

Change the default mail client without using Mail System
Having deleted Apple's Mail after upgrading to Tiger, I was stuck looking for a way to change the default email application to Thunderbird (my preferred client). As noted in this hint, Apple tries to force users to do this from within Mail. Thankfully, it turns out that you can also change this setting from within Internet Explorer 5.2

Just open Preferences, move down to the Network section, and look at Protocol Helpers. In there, you'll see the 'mailto' helper is set to Mail; just change it to your preferred client and you're done.
    •    
  • Currently 3.00 / 5
  You rated: 2 / 5 (4 votes cast)
 
[6,788 views]  

Change the default mail client without using Mail | 9 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'Change the default mail client without using Mail' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: Anonymous on Jul 19, '05 09:59:39AM

There is a freeware preferences pane called More Internet which you can find here

http://www.monkeyfood.com/software/MoreInternet/

that allows you to set the default email client, web browser and much more.



[ Reply to This | # ]
also RCDefaultApp
Authored by: taran on Jul 19, '05 10:11:35AM
http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCDefaultApp/

This has been very useful, and lives nicely in a Pref Pane.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: rhowell on Jul 19, '05 10:03:34AM

If I open com.apple.LaunchServices.plist in Property List Editor, and expand LSHandlers and then one of the objects, I find

LSHandlerRoleAll -> com.apple.mail
LSHandlerURLScheme -> mailto

I wonder if it can be changed in here, too.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: raider on Jul 19, '05 10:09:14AM
"Thankfully" you can do it in Internet Explorer? I wouldn't be thankful of even having that garbage on my machine.... :)

Anyway, much like the previously mentioned More Internet, there is another application (preference pane) called RCDefaultApp which allows you to change the default ANYTHING.

RCDefaultApp and MoreInternet are similar, but RCDefaultApp allows you to change more stuff...

Both will do what you need, without any Internet Explorer....

[ Reply to This | # ]
Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: Gigacorpse on Jul 19, '05 10:18:21AM

I think that the elimination of the Internet control panel was one of the few backwards steps Mac OS X has taken. There was no good reason to move this functionality into Safari/Mail.

Of course, I also see no reason that I should be forced to install Safari and Mail in the first place.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: fitzage on Jul 19, '05 10:35:51AM

It's not that Apple is forcing you to use their programs to do this, it's that other browser/email app developers (aside from Omni) aren't implementing this feature in their browsers.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: encro on Jul 19, '05 11:02:59AM

Camino 0.9a2 pre-release alpha also includes this feature so it wil be available when 0.9 is eventually released.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Re: Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: Uncle Asad on Jul 19, '05 11:15:35AM
Eudora has had the ability to set itself as the default for several minor-point updates now. On the browser front, Camino, Firefox, and iCab nightlies/alphas/betas have this (Camino since last year, Firefox and iCab in the last month).

That said, there was no good reason to move a system pref out of the System Prefs and into Apple's apps, except to reinvent the wheel and make app vendors reinvent the wheel, too (or force you to use Apple's apps at least once).

In addition to MoreInternet and RCDefaultApp, MisFox also does this and lets you set file/extension/MIME type mappings in InternetConfig (which Carbon apps still use for mapping downloads)....

[ Reply to This | # ]

Change the default mail client without using Mail
Authored by: encro on Jul 19, '05 10:59:41AM

There is also RCDefaultApp which will do the same thing, like MoreInternet but much more in depth: http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCDefaultApp/



[ Reply to This | # ]