Do "mailto" links not count as clicks in emails?

Nicolas Redmond

We have been sending some emails with buttons or hyperlinks that are tied to someone's email address, which is our "mailto" link. So, if someone clicks on that, their default email client should pop up with a new message to that "mailto" contact.

Some of our clients claim that they receive inquiries from our email marketing efforts, but clicks don't show up on the reporting or on the heat map. Are clicks not counted as clicks if the link is a "mailto" link?

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  • Comment author
    Bryce Eklund
    • Official comment

    Hi Nicholas,

    Great question! `mailto` links are not tracked like normal links in email messages. This is because normal web URLs are masked by a URL that bounces off Act-On before rerouting to its destination, which is the process that allows us to track clicks on particular links (as well as why we can change link destinations after a message is sent). Links that are not URLs like `mailto` or `tel` do not get the same URL masking treatment and thus are not tracked.

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