Email and mailbox rules
Control which emails from a connected mailbox reach External Inbox, and add category and urgency hints to the ones that do.
- Who can use this
- The person who connected a mailbox manages its rules; workspace owners can also manage them
- MFA and a recent sign-in may be required to change rules
Explore integration diagram
Integration diagram
Email and mailbox rules
Integration diagram. The text on this page has the exact steps and permissions.
Overview
Connected mailboxes, such as Zoho Mail and ProtonMail Bridge, sync email threads into External Inbox. Mailbox rules decide which threads come in and how they are labeled.
Conditions
Each rule needs at least one condition. Every condition you fill in must match, and matching ignores letter case.
- Sender email: exact address.
- Sender domain: exact domain, such as example.com.
- Subject contains: text anywhere in the subject.
- Body contains: text anywhere in the message.
Actions
- Skip: the thread is not brought into External Inbox.
- Ingest: the thread is brought in, with an optional category hint (such as client request, billing, or scheduling) and urgency hint (low, medium, high, or urgent).
- Threads that match no rule are ingested normally.
Order
Rules run in order, and the first enabled rule that matches wins. Disable a rule to pause it without deleting it. Rules apply to mail synced after the change; they do not remove items already in External Inbox.
Example
Letting Northstar in, keeping newsletters out
- Rule 1: Sender domain is
northstarhealth.example. Action: Ingest, category hint "client request", urgency hint "high". - Rule 2: Subject contains "newsletter". Action: Skip.
- Northstar's emails come in labeled high urgency. Newsletters never reach External Inbox. Everything else comes in as normal.
FAQ
Do new rules clean up my External Inbox?
No. Rules apply as new mail is synced. Dismiss items already in External Inbox yourself.