OS X: The Best Ways to Share a Web Page (via Email) in Safari

Occasionally, it's desirable to share a web page with someone via email, and there are several ways to do it in OS X Safari. Unfortunately, the fastest and easiest way (the default), has a notable problem. Here's how to do it the right way.

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In Safari, if you select File > Share > Email This Page, an image of the page you are viewing will be dropped into a mailer. All you have to do is fill in the recipient's address.

Emailing just the page from Safari.

For a quick recap, see "Safari: Mailing Page Links (the Easy Way) by our Melissa Holt. (Note that Ms. Holt shows how to hold down the Shift key to change the operation to emailing just the link — which is actually the best option.)

Recently, I discovered that there is an interesting problem with sharing just a web page via email. The URL itself, while buried deep in the message text, is not surfaced in the visible body of the email, so it's not obvious to the recipient. So if the email recipient is curious about that page and wants to know more, it's rather difficult to click anywhere in order to go to the original web page.

The Solution

Whether you access this share function from the Safari File menu or the Share button in the Safari tool bar, you're going to end up in a mailer.

Optionally, use the Share button in the toolbar.

In the mailer. under the Signature popup is a set of options called "Send Web Content As:" Again, Ms. Holt has explained this in: "Safari 6: New Ways to Share & Email Links."

Mailer has optgions for how to share th web page.

As I mentioned above, the "Web Page:" option sends a formatted web page without an obviously clickable URL. Plus, the recipient may not even be set up to view that kind of email.

Best: Select the "Link Only:" option. Anyone can read that link, and go to the web page with the browser of their choice.

Good: Select the "PDF:" option. That sends a PDF of the page accompanied by a visible, clickable link.

It seems the omission of the URL/link in the "Web Page:" option is a simple oversight in OS X Mavericks. It's fixed in OS X Yosemite.