How to Setup Default Email Client in LibreOffice

This tutorial shows how to configure your preferred email client program in LibreOffice, so that when you send a document via email, it will automatically use that email client as the default.

Table of Contents

LibreOffice’s Email Sending Limitations

There is an ongoing issue with LibreOffice when it comes to sending emails, as it doesn’t have a dedicated email client component built into it. Unlike Microsoft Office, which is tightly integrated with its Outlook email client program, LibreOffice lacks this level of integration.

To work around this issue, LibreOffice provides an option for adding and configuring an external email client program, such as Thunderbird, which is the preferred email client for LibreOffice. Once set up, it will use the configured email client to send emails directly from its applications, such as Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, etc.

The integration process is simple and only requires a few clicks.

How LibreOffice Handles External Email-client Program

Note: Before diving into the steps, here are a few things to know about how LibreOffice communicate with an external email-client program installed on your operating system.

(1) LibreOffice, by default, uses the email client that is already installed and selected as the default in the system settings, unless you have manually configured it to use another program

(2) LibreOffice requires the email client to support simple MAPI in order to communicate with it. In other words, LibreOffice does not support browser-based email clients.

Given these reasons, I highly recommend using Thunderbird (if you’re on a GNU/Linux operating system, chances are this email client is already pre-installed as it’s free and open-source and works seamlessly with LibreOffice).

Now, keeping all this extra information aside, let’s proceed to the actual steps.

Configure The Email Program in Options

To configure your preferred email client application in LibreOffice, follow the below steps:

Step 1. Select Tools > Options from the top menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut Alt + F12.

Step 2. Navigate to Internet > Email and browse to select your preferred email program. (If you’re using Windows OS, go to the file path where the program is installed, it’s probably located under “Program Files” or “Program Files (x86)” in the C: Drive.)