In this we will cover:
What is mailto link
Mailto link is a type of HTML link that activates the default mail client on the computer for sending an e-mail. The web browser requires a default e-mail client software installed on his computer in order to activate the e-mail client. If you have Microsoft Outlook, for example as your default mail client, pressing a mailto link will open a new mail window.
How to create mailto link in HTML
The mailto link is written like regular link with extra parameters inside the href attribute:
<a href="mailto:name@email.com">Link text</a>Parameter | Description |
mailto:name@email.com | e-mail recipient address |
cc=name@email.com | carbon copy e-mail address |
bcc=name@email.com | blind carbon copy e-mail address |
subject=subject text | subject of e-mail |
body=body text | body of e-mail |
? | first parameter delimiter |
& | other parameters delimiter |
mailto examples
Mail to email address
<a href="mailto:ayush@ayusharora.com">Send mail</a>The code will generate this link: Send mail
Pressing the above link will open a new mail window:
Mail to email address with subject
<a href="mailto:ayush@ayusharora.com?subject=The%20subject%20of%20the%20mail">Send mail with subject</a>The %20 represents space character. The code will generate this link: Send mail with subject
Pressing the above link will open a new mail window:
Mail to email address with cc, bcc, subject and body
aa<a href="mailto:name1@ayusharora.com?cc=name2@ayusharora.com&bcc=name3@ayusharora.com&subject=The%20subject%20of%20the%20email@body=The%20body%20of%20the%20email">Send mai with cc,bcc,subject and body</a>The %20 represents space character. The code will generate this link: Send mail with cc, bcc, subject and body
Pressing the above link will open a new mail window:
How to add spaces in the mail's subject or body
You can add spaces by writing %20 in the text of the subject or body.
<a href="mailto:name@mail.com?subject=The%20subject&body=This%20is%20a%20message%20body">Send mail</a>How to add line break in the mail's body
You can add newline by writing %0D%0A in the text of the body.
<a href="mailto:name@mail.com?body=Line1-text%0D%0ALine2-text">Send mail</a>How to add multiple email recipients
You can add multiple recipients by writing a comma separator (,) between email addresses.
<a href="mailto:name1@mail.com,name2@mail.com">Send mail</a>Are there downsides to using mailto links?
One of the downsides to using a mailto link is that it does often come across as spam by users. Unfortunately, a lot of spammers will use this option to send emails to users. So just keep that in mind when you're using it.
Advantages of using mailto links
A good reason to use a mailto link is if you are sending emails to a group of people that you know. If that entire group is using a default email client, then using a mailto link would be a good option over a contact form.
To configure your gmail account to open all mailto links, you can check the step-by-step guide here.