Managing email conversations in the Inbox
The instructions below are for desktops and laptops only.
Receive email conversations
Emails sent to a connected email address appear in your tawk.to Inbox as email conversations. If you have multiple email inboxes connected, conversations from each inbox appear together, subject to that inbox's visibility settings.
Each conversation is labelled with the inbox it belongs to, making it easy to identify which email address received the message.
Each conversation is labelled with the inbox it belongs to, making it easy to identify which email address received the message.
Reply to an email
2. Click Inbox in the left navigation bar.
3. Open the conversation in your tawk.to Inbox.
4. Enter your reply in the message composer.
5. Click Send.
Your reply is sent from the connected email address the customer originally contacted, not from a tawk.to email address.
Reply to everyone
When an email conversation includes multiple recipients, you can use Reply All to include everyone who received the original message.
If the customer emailed only your inbox, you'll only see Reply because there are no additional recipients to include.
If the customer emailed only your inbox, you'll only see Reply because there are no additional recipients to include.
Forward an email
To forward an email:
Forwarded emails retain their original context so the recipient can see the original message and where it came from.
Important: Forwarded emails are sent immediately and can't be undone. Check the recipient carefully before sending.
- Open the conversation.
- Open the conversation actions menu.
- Select Forward.
- Enter the recipient and send the email.
Forwarded emails retain their original context so the recipient can see the original message and where it came from.
Important: Forwarded emails are sent immediately and can't be undone. Check the recipient carefully before sending.
Send and receive attachments
You can attach files when replying to an email, and attachments included in incoming emails appear within the conversation for you to open or download.
Each attachment can be up to 25 MB.
If you try to attach a file larger than the limit, you'll receive an error immediately before sending your reply.
Note: To attach a file, use the attachment button or drag the file into the composer. Pasting files into the composer is intended for text and images only.
Each attachment can be up to 25 MB.
If you try to attach a file larger than the limit, you'll receive an error immediately before sending your reply.
Note: To attach a file, use the attachment button or drag the file into the composer. Pasting files into the composer is intended for text and images only.
View external images
Some emails contain images hosted on the sender's server. Loading these images lets the sender know the email has been opened.
To help protect your privacy, tawk.to blocks external images by default and displays External images blocked on the message.
Showing images only applies to the current message during your current session. It doesn't change the default behaviour or affect other members of your team.
Note: Because images are loaded directly from the sender's server, it's safer to leave them blocked if you don't trust the sender.
To help protect your privacy, tawk.to blocks external images by default and displays External images blocked on the message.
- Click Show images to load the images for the current message.
- Click Hide images to block them again.
Showing images only applies to the current message during your current session. It doesn't change the default behaviour or affect other members of your team.
Note: Because images are loaded directly from the sender's server, it's safer to leave them blocked if you don't trust the sender.
Undo a sent reply
When you send an email reply, tawk.to briefly delays sending it, giving you time to cancel the message if needed.
After clicking Send, an Undo option appears for a few seconds. Click Undo to cancel the reply and return it to the message composer before it's delivered.
By default, the undo window is 5 seconds.
Keep these points in mind:
After clicking Send, an Undo option appears for a few seconds. Click Undo to cancel the reply and return it to the message composer before it's delivered.
By default, the undo window is 5 seconds.
Keep these points in mind:
- Forwarded emails can't be undone.
They are sent immediately. - Stay on the page until the countdown finishes.
If you close the tab or navigate away before the countdown ends, your reply may not be sent.
Manage conversations - status, assignees, priority and tags
Email conversations use the same conversation management tools as your other messaging channels.
You can:
You can:
- Update the conversation status.
- Assign conversations to a property member or department.
- Set conversation priorities.
- Add tags for filtering and reporting.
Manage people in a conversation
When you receive an email, the sender is matched with your existing contacts whenever possible. This links the email conversation to the person's contact record, allowing you to view their details and conversation history.
If an email thread includes additional recipients, you can view everyone involved from the People in conversation panel.
The panel shows:
People already in your contacts appear with their name. Anyone who isn't in your contacts appears as a new contact that you can add without leaving the conversation.
If an email thread includes additional recipients, you can view everyone involved from the People in conversation panel.
The panel shows:
- The sender
- The recipients
- Anyone copied (CC)
People already in your contacts appear with their name. Anyone who isn't in your contacts appears as a new contact that you can add without leaving the conversation.
Add someone to your contacts
- Open the People in conversation panel.
- Find the person you want to add.
- Click Add to contacts.
If multiple new people were included in the conversation, click Select all to add them together.
For contacts already in your contact list, you can also:
- Add a note
- Compose a new email
- Create a ticket
- View the contact record
If the conversation includes many people, use the search box at the top of the panel to quickly find a specific contact.
Assign an AI agent to an email inbox
You can assign an AI agent to an email inbox so it can respond to incoming email conversations, just as it can for live chat and other supported messaging channels.
To assign an AI agent:
To assign an AI agent:
1. Click Automations in the left navigation bar.
2. Click Agents in the left submenu.
3. Select your AI agent.
4. Under Channels, select the email inbox you want the AI agent to manage.
An AI agent can manage one email inbox at a time. If you have separate inboxes for departments such as Support and Sales, you can assign a different AI agent to each inbox with its own instructions and training.
Note: AI-generated replies use the same Undo Send feature as replies sent by property members, allowing you to review exactly what was sent.
To learn more, see these guides:
Getting started with AI Assist
Deploying multiple AI agents across support channels
Note: AI-generated replies use the same Undo Send feature as replies sent by property members, allowing you to review exactly what was sent.
To learn more, see these guides:
Getting started with AI Assist
Deploying multiple AI agents across support channels
Planned features
The following features are planned for a future release:
Currently, access permissions are managed at the inbox level.
- Email signatures
- Saved and shared email drafts
- Per-conversation access control
Currently, access permissions are managed at the inbox level.
Additional considerations
- Replies are sent from the connected inbox
If you have multiple email inboxes connected, replies are always sent from the email address associated with that conversation. You can't choose a different sending address when replying.
- Undo Send delays delivery
Because replies are held until the Undo countdown ends, they aren't delivered immediately. If a reply appears not to have been sent, check whether the sender closed the browser tab or navigated away before the countdown finished.
- Inbox visibility controls conversation access
Who can view and reply to an email conversation depends on the visibility settings for the inbox it belongs to.
To learn more, see this guide:
Updating your email inbox settings
Related guides
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