Set GMail As The Default System-Wide Email Client in Ubuntu [Howto]

If you no longer uses POP3 email and a seperate client and prefers to use web-based email clients such as GMail, then I have the simple solution for you to enable having GMail as the default system-wide email client in Ubuntu (in conjunction with Firefox or Swiftfox). There are just two simple steps you need to follow to achieve this:

Step 1:

Open Firefox or Swiftfox and navigate to Edit > Preferences > Applications and in the search box enter mailto, then in the pull-down menu select 'GMail'.

Step 2:

In the Ubuntu menu (Gnome), go to Preferences > Preferred Applications, on the Internet tab select Custom and in the Command field, enter:

firefox %s

(or firefox-3.5 or swiftfox instead of firefox)

Just one more thing: if clicking a mailto link opens a blank tab in Firefox, enter this in the address bar: about:config, search for:

network.protocol-handler.external.mailto

and toggle it to TRUE

and:

network.protocol-handler.warn-external.mailto

this needs to be set to FALSE.

Test it out by clicking any link to send an email either in a web page or for example in Emesene/Pidgin Messenger for sending an email to someone and you should find that Firefox / Swiftfox opens a compose email window with the recipient's email address there for you.

Credits: SketchyClown user @ Ubuntuforums.org