OL2000: How Do I Make Outlook My Default MailTo Handler?

Q196985


The information in this article applies to:


SUMMARY

Microsoft Windows 95/98 and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 allow you to specify a default mail program. One benefit of this is that you can open a mail form with a preaddressed message, using the MailTo link found in other messages and on Web pages.

This article describes how to designate Microsoft Outlook as the default mail program.


MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, please consult your product documentation to complete these steps.

To designate Outlook as your default e-mail program, follow these steps:

In Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0:

  1. On the desktop, double-click My Computer.


  2. On the View menu, click Options or Folder Options, and then click File Types.


  3. Select URL:MailToProtocol, and then click Edit.


  4. In the Actions list, click Open, and then click Edit.


  5. Highlight Application used to perform action in the dialog box, and then press DELETE.


  6. In the same box dialog box, including the quotation marks, type "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Outlook.exe" -c IPM.Note /m "%1".


  7. Click OK, and then click Close twice.


In Windows 2000:

  1. Quit Outlook.


  2. On the Start menu, click Run, type regedit in the box, and then click OK.


  3. Move to and click the following registry key:
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\mailto\shell\open\command


  4. Double-click the (default) item on the right side.


  5. In the Value data field, type "C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office\OUTLOOK.EXE" -c IPM.Note /m "%1" (including the quotes,) and click OK.


  6. Quit Registry editor.


Additional query words:

Keywords : ol20genusght
Issue type : kbhowto
Technology :


Last Reviewed: January 10, 2001
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