Windows – Gmail as default Windows mail program (not same as `mailto:`)

gmailwindows 7

How to set Gmail as the default system mail client on Windows 7?

This is not the same as setting the default client for mailto: hyperlinks. Gmail is my default for mailto links, but when I use Windows Photo Viewer (for example, other programs do the same) and select Email I get the error:

There is no email program associated to perform the requested action. Please
install an email program or, if one is already installed, create an
association in the Default Programs control panel.

As noted in a comment by @eselk to Can I make Gmail the default 'send mail to recipient' program in Word 2007? The Google Notifier a.k.a GMail Notifier also doesn't work for this purpose: "GMail notifier only takes over mailto: URLs, it doesn't support "Simple MAPI". What this means … is that any program that uses simple MAPI to send email (most that send file attachments use MAPI), will not use GMail and will continue to use your default email client. The mailto: URL is pretty much only used by email hyperlinks or typing mailto: in the Windows Run box, not any "send as attachment" options in apps."

The registry solution here How to make Gmail the default handler for email on a Windows PC? does not work on my machine. The same answer references a program called Affixa which does, by report, seem to work. I don't want to resort to installing a program for this unless there really is no other option. What says Super User?

Best Answer

Microsoft made the decision to not support Simple Mapi on gmail in Windows 7, so there is no solution possible without changing something, either in Windows or by installing a third-party product.

One solution found on the Internet is by replacing C:\windows\system32\mapi32.dl by an older version from XP or Vista (it is advised to back it up first). A report on this technique says :

Tried replacing mapi32.dll and Msmapi32.ocx with versions taken from an XP machine. Now you can send messages, but the default client seems to be ignored (on the machine I tested it kept using Outlook instead of Thunderbird).

If you do not wish to change Windows software, there are also products that try to correct the problem.

The open-source project Tvhgooglemapi might be a solution. Here is how it is described :

Tvhgooglemapi is a simple tool that pretends to be a real mail client to windows but really only uploads the mail to the drafts folder of gmail and then opens the draft in the default web-browser. For the user this is almost exactly the same as having the gmail web interface as the default mail-client for some windows applications (the only difference being that he has to login twice if he is not already logged in to gmail and doesn't let the tool remember the password.)

For a detailed description see Integrating Apache OpenOffice 4.0 with GMail using MAPI.

A commercial alternative is Affixa, whose basic version is free for personal use.

Another commercial alternative is MAPI4Webmail (19.80 euros personal license).

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