# Is there a way to safely convert my default **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764 "2006-11-25T18:34:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/1 "2006-11-25T18:34:07Z")
email address to my g-mail address? My default address has become my spam dump. I use g-mail for all else. Here’s a typical problem: I’m at a website to which I want to email. So I make the appropriate click and up comes an e-mail to fill in and send. But like I said this is from my default e-mailer. To make sure I don’t miss a reply, I copy and paste the address to g-mail, which is a mild pain. Is there a way around this? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/2 "2006-11-25T18:39:05Z")
Do you mean you click a mailto: link and it brings up an email client like Outlook Express, Eudora or Netscape? If that’s the case, I need to know which one in order to tell you how to change it. Or are you talking about web forms which already have the email address filled in? If that’s the case, it’s probably your browser helpfully remembering your preference. Again, we’d need to know which browser in order to advise you. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/3 "2006-11-25T18:40:43Z")
If your email program is Outlook, you can add in website emails. I have it read up my Yahoo, for example, the one I use for Yahoo Groups that tends to create spam. It’s still a slightly different step, but all in the same familiar windows as my regular mail. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/4 "2006-11-25T19:02:43Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Do you mean you click a mailto: link and it brings up an email client like Outlook Express, Eudora or Netscape? If that’s the case, I need to know which one in order to tell you how to change it. Or are you talking about web forms which already have the email address filled in? If that’s the case, it’s probably your browser helpfully remembering your preference. Again, we’d need to know which browser in order to advise you. [/QUOTE] Firefox 2.0 is my browser. (Not to be a total pain in the butt, but I also have Outlook (standard, not O.E.) and Thunderbird. If I could, I’d like to eliminate the email aspect of Outlook and all of Thunderbird as well.) Is this the info you need, Q.E.D.? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/5 "2006-11-25T19:04:07Z")
All three have the default email address. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/6 "2006-11-25T19:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] Is this the info you need, Q.E.D.? [/QUOTE] Well, which is it? Are you talking about links which call up a new email from Outlook or Thunderbird? Or is it that the email address is already filled out on web forms? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/7 "2006-11-25T19:14:23Z")
Installing the Google Toolbar does this, but I don’t know if the Toolbar is actively doing something, or if the installation program simply changes Windows’ default mail program. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/8 "2006-11-25T19:20:08Z")
Um, I was assuming the OP wants to change the default e-mail _client_ to the Gmail web-based client. Upon re-reading it I’m not too sure if that was correct… ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/9 "2006-11-25T19:22:29Z")
You can use plus addressing in Gmail; for example, elmwood+straightdope(at sign) [gmail.com](http://gmail.com) would be the same as elmwood(at sign)[gmail.com](http://gmail.com). When spam starts arriving for elmwood+straightdope, filter all messages for the plus address. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/10 "2006-11-26T05:10:07Z")
Download the gmail notifier; it will allow you to set gmail as your default email application. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/11 "2006-11-26T17:34:59Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Well, which is it? Are you talking about links which call up a new email from Outlook or Thunderbird? Or is it that the email address is already filled out on web forms? [/QUOTE] The email (to be filled out) is from my Firefox.browser. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/12 "2006-11-26T17:56:11Z")
After reading over the thread, I think **scr4** has the simplest answer. Clearly, your default email handler is set to a web-based email client of some sort. You need to change that to Gmail. I’m having a little trouble figuring out exactly what’s going on, however, since most web-based clients can only be used with a specific email provider; that is, you can’t use, for example, Hotmail, to send an email through Gmail. Can you provide a screenshot of the situation? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/13 "2006-11-26T18:54:34Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] After reading over the thread, I think **scr4** has the simplest answer. Clearly, your default email handler is set to a web-based email client of some sort. You need to change that to Gmail. I’m having a little trouble figuring out exactly what’s going on, however, since most web-based clients can only be used with a specific email provider; that is, you can’t use, for example, Hotmail, to send an email through Gmail. Can you provide a screenshot of the situation? [/QUOTE] Please don’t trouble yourself further, **Q.E.D.** It’s just a minor inconvenience that I can live with. I’m sorry for bothering you and everyone else about something as trivial as this. Thank you for trying. I’m just too ignorant to be helped.. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/14 "2006-11-26T18:56:16Z")
It’s no trouble, really. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/15 "2006-11-26T18:57:41Z")
I think we’re just not sure what exactly you want to do. If you want to be able to click on an e-mail link and have the Gmail web interface pop up, installing the Gmail Notifier or Google Toolbar would accomplish this. If that’s not what you want, you have to explain better. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/16 "2006-11-26T19:00:37Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] You can use plus addressing in Gmail; for example, elmwood+straightdope(at sign) [gmail.com](http://gmail.com) would be the same as elmwood(at sign)[gmail.com](http://gmail.com). When spam starts arriving for elmwood+straightdope, filter all messages for the plus address. [/QUOTE] Well you learn something new every day. That’s very cool. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/17 "2006-11-26T19:11:36Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] If that’s not what you want, you have to explain better. [/QUOTE] That’s why I’d like a screen cap. Picture = words x 10[sup]3[/sup], and all that good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/18 "2006-11-26T19:52:23Z")
Please pretend I never asked. I’m really embarrassed by all this. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-safely-convert-my-default/381764/19 "2006-11-26T19:56:24Z")
If that’s really what you want, but I think I can speak for all participants in this thread when I say that we are still perfectly willing to help.