All Gmail All the Time, please
September 27, 2011 11:26 AM Subscribe
I'm on Mac OS X, Chrome, Gmail. How do I get MS Word and Excel to play nice with Gmail? Right now, when I go into Word or Excel and click File/Send To/Mail Recipient (as Attachment), a Mac Mail window opens up. Same thing if I happen to click an email link in a Word or Excel doc. I've installed Gmail Notifier, which opens a Gmail window for mailto: links on web pages, but doesn't help with Word or Excel. (In Mail, I've gone into Preferences/Default Email Reader and selected Gmail Notifier (1.10.7) but this makes no diff.)
So: how do I make Gmail the default email client for Microsoft Office "send to" and "mail to"?
Best answer: Here is what I have done. The following comes form MS Word help:
1. In Finder, click the Go menu, and then click Applications.
2. Double-click Mail.
3. On the Mail menu, click Preferences, and then click the General icon.
4. On the Default Email Reader pop-up menu, click the program you want to use.
5. If you don't see the program you want to use in the list, click Select.
Locate and double-click the e-mail program you want to use.
Of course, this means you have to select an application and cannot select a web-based service like Gmail... except that I use Mailplane, an app that allows you to easily switch between multiple Gmail accounts and I select that so any mail request in Word, etc. selects my gmail account as used in Mailplane.
posted by TheRaven at 12:20 PM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
1. In Finder, click the Go menu, and then click Applications.
2. Double-click Mail.
3. On the Mail menu, click Preferences, and then click the General icon.
4. On the Default Email Reader pop-up menu, click the program you want to use.
5. If you don't see the program you want to use in the list, click Select.
Locate and double-click the e-mail program you want to use.
Of course, this means you have to select an application and cannot select a web-based service like Gmail... except that I use Mailplane, an app that allows you to easily switch between multiple Gmail accounts and I select that so any mail request in Word, etc. selects my gmail account as used in Mailplane.
posted by TheRaven at 12:20 PM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Traditionally, you just tell Mail the imap details for your gmail account.
posted by pompomtom at 1:53 PM on September 27, 2011
posted by pompomtom at 1:53 PM on September 27, 2011
Response by poster: pompomtom — it seems that would still open a Mail window to send the email, right?
posted by beagle at 2:20 PM on September 27, 2011
posted by beagle at 2:20 PM on September 27, 2011
If you need to use Gmail only on the web and not in Mail.app, Gmail notifier used to be the correct way to add a system handler for email links. Does the menu extra indicate that it is trying to capture email links? It has worked correctly for me in the past (though I haven't personally used it since a previous OS release). Which OS are you on?
I also wonder, since you're on chrome, what about the "send from gmail" extension?
(Thirdly, I'm curious why the Mail.app-using-gmail solution doesn't work for you.)
posted by olecranon at 3:10 PM on September 27, 2011
I also wonder, since you're on chrome, what about the "send from gmail" extension?
(Thirdly, I'm curious why the Mail.app-using-gmail solution doesn't work for you.)
posted by olecranon at 3:10 PM on September 27, 2011
pompomtom — it seems that would still open a Mail window to send the email, right?
Yeah, but it would send through your gmail account. I'd consider that 'playing nice' -- I apologise if I've missed your point.
posted by pompomtom at 4:11 PM on September 27, 2011
Yeah, but it would send through your gmail account. I'd consider that 'playing nice' -- I apologise if I've missed your point.
posted by pompomtom at 4:11 PM on September 27, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks all, "Mail.app-using-gmail" seems to be the most doable solution.
posted by beagle at 5:30 PM on September 29, 2011
posted by beagle at 5:30 PM on September 29, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 12:03 PM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]