How to add a subject to an email mailto link
Summary
Learn how to add subject, carbon copy (CC), blind carbon copy (BCC), and body (email content) fields to a mailto: link. Follow proper mailto URL encoding per RFC 3986 to handle special characters and ensure compatibility.
Introduction #
Adding a subject, carbon copy (CC), blind carbon copy (BCC), and body content (email content) to an email mailto link ensures that when a user clicks the link, their email client opens with the relevant fields pre-filled. This is useful for guiding recipients, improving email clarity, and streamlining communication.
Important: mailto links rely on the user's default email client, which means they may not work as expected in web-based email services like Gmail, Yahoo!, GMX, Apple Mail, etc. These services typically do not support opening pre-filled emails via mailto links unless they are specifically configured to handle them.
Understanding the mailto URL scheme #
The mailto URL scheme is defined in Request for Comments (RFC) 2368, which specifies how to create hyperlinks that open email clients. Additionally, the convention for encoding information into URLs and Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) is defined in RFC 1738 and later updated in RFC 3986. These standards prescribe how to include various headers such as subject and body in an email hyperlink.
Basic mailto syntax #
A basic mailto link consists of mailto: followed by an email address:
<a href="mailto:example@example.com">Send Email</a>
Will be rendered as:
This will open the user’s default email client with the recipient field populated.
Adding a subject to a mailto link #
To add a subject line, use the ?subject= parameter:
<a href="mailto:example@example.com?subject=Hello">Send Email</a>
Will be rendered as:
When clicked, this link will open an email with “Hello” in the subject line.
Adding CC to a mailto link #
To add a carbon copy (CC) recipient, use the cc parameter:
<a href="mailto:example@example.com?subject=Hello&cc=cc@example.com">Send Email</a>
Will be rendered as:
This link opens an email with “Hello” as the subject and cc@example.com in the CC field.
Adding BCC to a mailto link #
To add a blind carbon copy (BCC) recipient, use the bcc parameter:
<a href="mailto:example@example.com?subject=Hello&bcc=bcc@example.com">Send Email</a>
Will be rendered as:
This link opens an email with “Hello” as the subject and bcc@example.com in the BCC field.
Adding a body to a mailto link #
To add a pre-filled body (email content), use the body parameter:
<a href="mailto:example@example.com?subject=Hello&body=This%20is%20a%20test%20email.">Send Email</a>
Will be rendered as:
This link opens an email with “Hello” as the subject and “This is a test email.” in the body.
Adding multiple parameters #
To include more fields, such as body, cc, and bcc, use an ampersand (&) to separate them:
<a href="mailto:example@example.com?subject=Meeting%20Request&body=Please%20confirm%20the%20meeting.&cc=cc@example.com&bcc=bcc@example.com">Send Email</a>
Will be rendered as:
This link pre-fills the recipient, subject, body (email content), CC (carbon copy), and BCC (blind carbon copy) fields.
Encoding special characters #
URLs cannot contain spaces or special characters directly. They must be percent-encoded according to RFC 3986. For example:
| Character | Encoding |
|---|---|
| Space | %20 |
? | %3F |
& | %26 |
= | %3D |
@ | %40 |
# | %23 |
+ | %2B |
/ | %2F |
: | %3A |
; | %3B |
" | %22 |
' | %27 |
( | %28 |
) | %29 |
, | %2C |
$ | %24 |
% | %25 |
For example, “Meeting Request?” in a subject line should be written as Meeting%20Request%3F. Encode special characters properly to avoid broken links.
Further readings #
Sources and recommended, further resources on the topic:
- RFC2368: The mailto URL scheme
- RFC1738: Uniform Resource Locators (URL)
- RFC3986: Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax
Author
Jonas Jared Jacek (J15k)
Jonas works as project manager, web designer, and web developer since 2001. On top of that, he is a Linux system administrator with a broad interest in things related to programming, architecture, and design. See: https://www.j15k.com/License
How to add a subject to an email mailto link by Jonas Jared Jacek is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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