Mail to Claude guide
Mail to Claude: how to send Apple Mail emails to Claude Desktop
Mail to Claude means getting an email out of Apple Mail and into the right Claude chat, with its attachments and your instruction. Here is how to do it in one shortcut instead of five manual steps.
What you need
- A Mac with Apple Silicon, running macOS 13 or later.
- Apple Mail, with the accounts you want to use added to it.
- Claude Desktop, installed and kept on its Chat view.
- MailtoChat, a small menu bar app that does the sending. It is free during launch.
Send an email to Claude in four steps
- Install MailtoChat and open it. It lives in your menu bar. When macOS asks, allow Automation for Mail and Accessibility, so it can read the selected email and paste into Claude.
- Select an email in Apple Mail, from any of your mailboxes.
- Press a shortcut such as ⌥⌘R to draft a reply, or choose an action from the menu bar icon.
- Claude takes it from there. The email, its details and every attachment land in the chat or project you chose, and your prompt runs.
The first time an email has no route, MailtoChat asks where it should go. Save your choice and the next email from that sender goes there by itself.
Why not just copy and paste?
You can, and for a one-off email it is fine. The cost shows up when email is part of your day: you copy the text, switch to Claude, hunt for the right chat, paste, re-attach the files and retype the same instruction. We compared the two in detail in MailtoChat vs copy-pasting emails into Claude.
Get better replies: one chat per client
Claude remembers what is in a chat or project: your tone, decisions already made, files you shared. If every email starts a new chat, none of that exists. A route links a sender, a recipient or a whole domain to a specific chat or project, so each new email lands where the history already is. Add a standing instruction such as “Always reply formally, in Dutch” and it travels with every email on that route.
See how routes work in the manual.
Add your prompt once
Each action has its own name, shortcut and prompt, so you write the instruction once. MailtoChat has six action slots:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Draft a Reply | ⌥⌘R |
| Summary & Next Steps | ⌥⌘S |
| Deep Dive & Research | ⌥⌘D |
| Custom action 1 | ⌥⌘1 |
| Custom action 2 | ⌥⌘2 |
| Paste Only | ⌥⌘C |
The three presets cover replies, summaries and research. The two custom slots can run anything Claude can do with an email, such as adding a row to a spreadsheet or opening a ticket from your template.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send an email from Apple Mail to Claude?
Yes. With MailtoChat installed, select an email in Apple Mail and press a shortcut such as ⌥⌘R. The email and its attachments are pasted into Claude Desktop and your prompt is added.
Does mail to Claude work with Gmail or Outlook?
It works with any account you have added to Apple Mail, including Gmail and Outlook accounts. Gmail in a browser and the Outlook app are not supported yet.
Do I need Claude Desktop?
Yes. MailtoChat works with the Claude desktop app, on its Chat view. Claude on the web is not supported yet.
Are my emails sent to MailtoChat?
No. Emails, attachments and prompts go from Apple Mail to Claude Desktop on your Mac and are never sent to us.
How much does it cost?
MailtoChat is free during the launch period.
Related
Send your next email to Claude in one shortcut.
Download MailtoChat for MacFree during launch. For Claude Desktop and Apple Mail on a Mac with Apple Silicon, macOS 13 or later. Read the manual