Some users, even if they have set Outlook as their default email client, may sometimes receive the following generic error message – Either there is no default mail client, or the current mail client cannot respond to the mail request, please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default mail client, when they try to perform an email related action on their Windows 10 PC. In this article, we will walk through the variants of this error message, identify the cause, and then provide a possible solution to help alleviate this problem.
Current email client cannot respond to email request
The variant of this Outlook error message that you may receive depends on the action you are trying to perform on your PC. Here are the variants of the error message:
In Windows Explorer, you try to send a file to an email recipient and receive the error:
Either there is no default mail client, or the current mail client cannot respond to the mail request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default email client.
In Microsoft Excel, you are trying to share a spreadsheet as an email attachment and receive the error:
Either there is no default mail client, or the current mail client cannot respond to the mail request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default email client.
General mail failure. Quit Microsoft Excel, restart the messaging system, and try again.
In Microsoft Powerpoint, you are trying to share a presentation as an email attachment and receive the error:
Either there is no default mail client, or the current mail client cannot respond to the mail request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default email client.
There was a general failure with the messaging system and this action could not be performed.
In Microsoft Word, you are trying to share a document as an email attachment or when a user attempts a mail merge and receives the error:
Either there is no default mail client, or the current mail client cannot respond to the mail request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default email client.
Word could not send mail due to a MAPI failure: “Error not specified”.
Whichever instance of this Outlook error message you face, the cause is the same – therefore, the solution to fix the problem is the same.
This problem occurs because the MSIComponentID is set to an incorrect GUID (globally unique identifier) for the version of Outlook that you are running.
To solve this problem, there are three suggestions:
- Set Outlook as your default program
- Repair the installation of the Microsoft Office suite.
- If the repair operation fails to resolve the problem, you should try to uninstall and reinstall Office.
That’s it, friends!