A mailto form is a client-side handoff, not an email-delivery service. It prepares a draft in the visitor's configured email application, where the visitor can review, edit and send it.
Know when mailto is a good fit
Mailto can suit a simple static site that does not need storage, automation or a private recipient. It depends on the visitor having a compatible email app configured, so it should not be treated as guaranteed delivery.
- Use it for low-volume enquiries where an editable draft is acceptable.
- Show that an email app will open and the message is not sent automatically.
- Offer another contact path if the audience may not have a local email app.
Configure the destination in FormToInbox
In the Export panel, choose Email app (mailto), enter the destination owner's email address, set a short subject and write a useful message introduction. The destination is embedded in the exported JavaScript and is therefore public.
Encode the subject and body
A mailto URI can carry a subject and body. Encode values before joining them to the URI so spaces, line breaks and reserved characters do not corrupt the link. FormToInbox performs this step in the generated script.
const subject = encodeURIComponent('New website enquiry');
const body = encodeURIComponent(['Name: ' + name, 'Message: ' + message].join('\r\n'));
window.location.href = 'mailto:[email protected]?subject=' + subject + '&body=' + body;Test the real handoff
Test on the browsers and operating systems your visitors use. Confirm that the correct recipient, subject and values appear, then verify that cancelling the draft does not display a false success message. Avoid sensitive or very long content in a URI.
Frequently asked questions
Does a mailto form send email without SMTP?
It can open a prepared message without SMTP credentials on your website, but the visitor's email app performs the actual send. It is not automatic server-side delivery.
Does FormToInbox receive the email?
No. The free export creates the mailto draft in the visitor's browser and FormToInbox does not receive the form values.
Is the recipient address private?
No. A mailto recipient included in front-end HTML or JavaScript is visible to visitors and crawlers.
Primary sources
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