Southwestern REACT ​of San Diego County Inc.

GREEN BUTTON not launching a new email properly


The Green Volunteer Buttons use the "MailTo" feature of your web browser.  For this to work, your PC (and/or browser) needs to know what DEFAULT Email application to use.  If it does not, the browser will launch a window with various choices, including OUTLOOK.  To avoid this problem, you will have to set the DEFAULT email application for your PC.


Each version of Windows does things a bit differently.  Thus you will have to use the appropriate instructions, which can be found by searching the web.  Below are the solutions that I have found.  If you have another solution, please send it to me so that I can post it here.

Default Email -- Windows 10

Click: Start Button

Click: Control Panel

Click: Default Programs

Click: Set your default programs


Look for the new "Default apps" window that just opened up. 

At the top should be "Email" and right below that should be your current email app icon and name.  If it says "MAIL" then that is some kind of MS Windows gizmo that you probably don't want to use.  You need to click on it so that a list of other choices can be displayed.


A. If you have an email application (Thunderbird, Outlook, etc.) installed on your PC and it is what you normally use, then that is what you should choose as your default email app.


B. If you primarily use GMAIL via a web browser (and not through Thunderbird), then you should choose Google Chrome.  That browser is usually tied into your GMAIL account via a Google Profile.


C. In some other cases, the windows "Default apps" setting is not in control.  Instead, the WEB BROWSER may have its own setting for DEFAULT EMAIL.  Therefore, go ahead and close the "Default apps" window.  Instead, the web browser (that you are using to look at this SWREACT web site) will have its own DEFAULT email setting that MUST be set.  See below for instruction on how to do this in FIREFOX.

Default Email -- FIREFOX web browser

Open: Firefox

Click: on the hamburger icon (3 horizontal lines) of the far right of the URL line near top of window.

Click: Settings

Click: General

Scroll Down to "Files and Applications" and then to "Applications".

In the "Content Type" window, scroll down to "mailto".

Click on the "Action" that is on the same line as "mailto" and set it to your preferred choice.

Other Web Browsers


BRAVE -- does not appear to have a default email setting.

VIVALDI -- does not appear to have a default email setting.

MS Edge -- does not appear to have a default email setting.

Google Chrome -- Appears to be tied into your Google Profile and GMAIL.