When you click on a mailto link in a web browser, it will open a new email in your computers default mail app (usually Mail for Mac and Outlook for Windows).  However, you can configure your preferred web browser to open these links in Gmail's web interface.  Each web browser is configured differently.

Google Chrome

Configuring Google Chrome to open mailto links in Gmail is the most straightforward.

1. Navigate to gmail.carleton.edu and sign in using your Carleton username and password.
2. Look for the double diamond in the upper right hand corner, click, and select "Allow."  If you don't see this, continue to step 3.
3. Open Chrome settings.
   
   
   
4. Select "Show advanced settings" and click on "Content settings" under "Privacy."
5. Scroll down to "Handlers" and select "Manage handlers."
   
6. Select "mail.google.com" as your mailto site.

(These instructions were drawn from this blog post).

Firefox

See Mozilla documentation.

Safari

1. Download Google's mailto extension for Safari.
2. Open your downloads folder and double-click the downloaded file, mailto.safariextz. 
3. Click "trust" on the popup that asks if you would like to install the extension "mailto." 
4. Select "gmail" in the list that pops up.  Mailto links in safari should now open in Gmail.

Internet Explorer

1. Download the Google Toolbar extension for Internet explorer and accept and install as prompted. 
2. Restart your browser.  You should see a google search box and a wrench icon near the top of your browser window.  If you don't see this, you will have to go into Internet Explorer settings > Manage add-ons, and enable Google toolbar.
3. Click on the wrench icon in the upper right hand corner of your browser window and select Options, then check the box that says "Use Gmail for Mail To links."