Sending files via email is a common practice. However, you might encounter an error message when trying to send a file via email using the “Right-click > Send to > Mail recipient” option on your Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer. This error message could read “Either there is no default mail client or the current mail client cannot fulfill the messaging request“.
In this article, we will show you how to fix the “Send to Mail Recipient not working” issue in Windows 11 or 10, and share files properly via email using a Windows 10/11 mail client.
Also see: How to Add Gmail Account to Mail App in Windows 11
Page Contents
How to fix Send to Mail Recipient not working issue
If you don’t have a default email client set up on your Windows 10/11, when you use the “Send to Mail Recipient” option, it will either show “no default mail client is set up” or do nothing at all. Therefore, the first step to fix this issue is to set up a mail client such as Microsoft Outlook 2016, Office 365, or other mail clients, on your Windows 10/11 system. Here’s how you can do it:
- Open your preferred mail client.
- Check your email account settings to see if you have already set up your email account with it.
- If you haven’t launched it since your Windows 10/11 installation, open it for the first time to set it up as your default mail client for future mail-related action requests in Windows 10/11.
Use the “Share” option instead
If you have already set up your email account but the “Send to Mail Recipient” option is still not working in Windows 10/11, you can use another method to share the file. Instead of using the “Send to Mail Recipient” option, we will use the “Share” option in the context menu. Here’s how you can do it:
- Set up an email account in the Windows 10/11 Mail app first. Launch the Mail app (search Mail in the start menu or Cortana) to set up your email account before sharing your files using this method.
- Right-click on the file that you want to send via email. From the context menu, select “Share“.
- A pop-up window will appear asking how you would like to share the file. Select “Mail“.
- If you have already set up your account on the Mail app, it should show you the send form right away. Otherwise, it should prompt you to set up your email account on the Windows 10/11 Mail app.
Note that the above method uses the Windows 10/11 Mail app, which is a built-in mail client for Windows 10/11. If you want to use Microsoft Outlook 2016 instead and you are sure that it is already installed on your system, you should see “Outlook 2016” from the sharing selection. Instead of clicking “Mail“, select “Microsoft Outlook 2016” instead. This should also fix the “Send to Mail Recipient Not Working” issue.
Checking Default Mail Client Settings
If you have set up your email account in your mail client but still encounter the “Send to Mail Recipient Not Working” issue, you might want to check if your mail client is set as the default mail client. Here’s how you can do it in Windows 10/11:
- Open the Start menu and select “Settings“.
- Click on “Apps“, then “Default Apps“.
- Scroll down and click on “Set defaults by app“.
- Look for your mail client in the list of apps and click on it.
- Click on “Set this program as default” to make it the default mail client.
Using Third-Party Email Clients
While Windows 11/10 comes with a built-in Mail app, some users might prefer to use third-party email clients such as Mozilla Thunderbird, Google Gmail, or Apple Mail. Here’s how you can set up these email clients to work with the “Send to Mail Recipient” feature in Windows 10/11:
- Open your preferred email client and go to its settings.
- Look for the “Default apps” or “Protocol handlers” option and set your email client as the default app for the “mailto” protocol.
- Once you have set your email client as the default app, the “Send to Mail Recipient” feature should work with your preferred email client.
