Free tool
Mailto link generator
Build a properly encoded mailto link with recipients, subject and body prefilled. Copy the URL or the HTML snippet and drop it into your website.
A mailto link opens the visitor's default email app with the recipient, subject and message already filled in. It is the fastest way to turn a "Contact us" button into a ready-to-send email. The tricky part is encoding: spaces, line breaks and special characters must be percent-encoded or the link breaks in some email clients. This mailto link generator handles the encoding for you and produces both the raw URL and a clean HTML anchor tag.
How to create a mailto link
- 1
Enter the recipient address in the To field. You can add several addresses separated by commas.
- 2
Optionally fill in CC, BCC, a subject line and a message body.
- 3
The encoded mailto URL and the HTML snippet update live as you type.
- 4
Click "Test the link" to open it in your own email app and check that everything is prefilled correctly.
- 5
Copy the URL for buttons and menus, or copy the HTML snippet to paste straight into your website's code.
Frequently asked questions
What is a mailto link?
A mailto link is a special URL that starts with mailto: instead of https:. When someone clicks it, their default email application opens a new draft addressed to the email in the link, optionally with cc, bcc, subject and body already filled in.
Can I add multiple recipients to one mailto link?
Yes. Separate addresses with commas in the To, CC or BCC field and the tool joins them correctly. Keep in mind that very long recipient lists make long URLs, and some browsers and email clients truncate URLs beyond roughly 2000 characters.
Why do spaces and line breaks need to be encoded?
URLs cannot contain raw spaces or line breaks. In a mailto link a space must become %20 and a new line %0A, otherwise the link may stop working or cut off the message. This generator applies the encoding automatically to the subject and body.
Do mailto links work on phones?
Yes. On iOS and Android a mailto link opens the default mail app, such as Gmail or Apple Mail, with the draft prefilled. If the user has no mail app configured, the click does nothing, which is why many sites show the plain address next to the link as a fallback.
Are mailto links bad for spam?
Publishing any email address in a page's HTML, whether as text or inside a mailto link, exposes it to scrapers. If spam is a concern, use a role address you can filter, or replace the link with a contact form for the most sensitive addresses.
Can a mailto link send the email automatically?
No. A mailto link only opens a prefilled draft; the visitor still has to press Send. If you need to send personalized emails to a whole list automatically, that is exactly what a mail merge does from Google Sheets and Gmail.
Need to send more than one email?
Send personalized campaigns to your whole list from Google Sheets with Mail Merge for Gmail.