Special links — Browser beta

What are special links and protocol handlers?

Special links are links that open certain programs. For example, when you click a link with an email address, it launches a mail program and creates a message to this address.

Special links use the following protocols:

mailto — for opening an email application
webcal — for adding events to a calendar

Protocol handlers are programs or web services that open when you click special links.


Protocol	Protocol handler
Protocol	Program	Web service
webcal	Outlook	Yandex.Calendar
mailto	Outlook, The Bat!	Yandex.Mail

You can set the default web service for email and calendars in the Yandex.Browser settings.

Note. If you have not assigned web handlers yourself, special links are handled by the program that is set on your computer as the default program for email and calendars.

How do I set Yandex.Mail as the mailto protocol handler?

Yandex.Mail offers to set the protocol handler itself:

Log into your account in Yandex.Mail.
Click the icon in the right half of the SmartBox:
Flip the switch to Allow.
Click Done.

If the Mail extension is enabled, mail links will be opened in Yandex.Mail.

To enable the extension:

Click → Extensions.
In the Yandex Services section, enable the Mail extension.

If the icon did not appear in the page title, you can use the handler to assign Yandex.Mail yourself:

Go to the Yandex.Mail page.
Press Ctrl + Shift + J to open the JavaScript console.

Enter the following command in the console and click Enter:

navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto",
                                  "https://mail.yandex.com/compose?mailto=%s",
                                  "Yandex.Mail");

Confirm by clicking Allow in the dialog window that opens.

Tip. To close the JavaScript console, click the

icon or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + J (Windows) or ⌘ + ⌥ + J (Mac OS).

How do I set Yandex.Calendar for handling the webcal protocol?

Go to the Yandex.Calendar page.
Press Ctrl + Shift + J to open the JavaScript console.

Enter the following command in the console and click Enter:

navigator.registerProtocolHandler("webcal","https://calendar.yandex.ru/import?url=%s","Yandex.Calendar");

Confirm by clicking Allow in the dialog window that opens.

Tip. To close the JavaScript console, click the

icon or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + J (Windows) or ⌘ + ⌥ + J (Mac OS).

Changing assigned protocol handlers

To view the list of assigned protocol handlers:

Click → Settings.
In the lower half of the Settings page, click Show advanced settings.
In the Privacy section, click Content settings.
In the Handlers section, click Manage handlers.

All the assigned protocol handlers are listed in the open Protocol Handlers window.

In this window, you can:

Change the website specified as a protocol handler

Expand the drop-down list and select one of the installed handlers.
Click Done.

Disable the selected protocol handler

Open the drop-down list and select the option (none).
Click Done.

Delete a specific website from the list of handlers for the selected protocol

Select a service from the list and click the link remove this site.
Click Done.

How do I prohibit protocol handling?

If you do not want a program or web service to open when you click a special link, prohibit protocol handling on all websites:

Click → Settings.
In the lower half of the Settings page, click Show advanced settings.
In the Privacy section, click Content settings.
In the Handlers section, select Do not allow any site to handle protocols.