Does Fastmail offer multiple inboxes?

[janiceheise]

I'm currently exploring the Onmail email provider as a potential replacement before transitioning to Fastmail. Onmail's feature of "split inboxes" has truly impressed me. I've organized distinct inboxesI'm currently in the process of trying out Onmail as my new email provider before considering Fastmail. The functionality of "split inboxes" offered by Onmail has been a game-changer for me. I've set up separate inboxes for newsletters, marketing emails, and receipts/alerts related to credit card usage. This approach of segregating different categories into individual inboxes aligns perfectly with my workflow and how I handle emails in those specific categories. SPAM LINK REMOVED
I'm curious to know if Fastmail provides a similar feature. While I understand that I can achieve something similar by using labels or folders, I personally associate labels and folders with emails I want to archive rather than actively manage. It wouldn't make sense for me to direct unread emails or those requiring immediate action into labe

[n5bb]

Welcome to EMD Forums!

Fastmail does not have a feature they call "multiple inboxes". But you can create multiple folders or labels (they look the same with a user interface similar to file folders), and cause certain emails to appear in the proper "inbox" when they are delivered to your account. And, of course, you can drag (or move with a tool) messages between the "inboxes" (folders or labels). Each folder/label/"inbox" can be named as you wish. For compatibility reasons, there can be only one folder/label named "Inbox" to allow email client software to find that location to retrieve messages if you don't automatically file messages upon receipt. But you can create "Auto Inbox" for Automobile related messages about your vehicles, "Medical Inbox" for medical related messages, and subfolders such as "Medical Inbox > Insurance".

You can reorder each folder/label/"inbox" as you wish in the listing. So you could create an "Auto Inbox" at the top, "Medical Inbox" next, and place "Inbox" next to receive all other incoming messages, for example.

Fastmail recently (in late 2023) added a new user interface feature to make it easier to get messages sent to a particular alias (email address) to be automatically be filed into a folder/label/"inbox". See:

• https://www.fastmail.com/blog/action...ail-addresses/
• https://www.fastmail.help/hc/en-us/a...eliveryoptions

There are multiple methods you might want to use to get incoming messages delivered to the correct folder/label/"inbox":

• Special email addresses: Fastmail allows you to create up to 600 aliases (email addresses) at Fastmail-owned domains. If you own a your own domain, you can use custom domains with Fastmail. This allows you to separate different categories using specialized email addresses. So you could sign up for several newsletters using "newsletter@example.org" and medical related services using "medical@example.org", where "example.org" is either a Fastmail domain with that available alias or a domain you personally own or control.
• Rules (automatic filing) based on the sender From address.
• Rules (automatic filing) based on the subject line of the message.
• Rules (automatic filing) based on some character string in the message body.
• Rules (automatic filing) based on some message header.
• Rules (automatic filing) based on a mailing list ID.
• You can add a rule from a particular email easily by choosing in the Actions... tool to Create rule from message ...

If you use folder mode, each message appears to be located in one particular folder. Label mode allows multiple labels to be applied to a particular message. You can switch back and forth between folder and label mode -- if you add multiple labels to a message, it will appear in multiple folders if you switch to folder mode.

Fastmail has a free iOS/iPadOS and a free Android app, as well as access using a web browser or an email client (such as Outlook, Thunderbird/Supernova, or Apple Mail). Every day I use my iPhone, iPad, and Windows web browser with Fastmail at different times of the day. I have the Fastmail calendar synchronized with my iPhone calendar.

I hope I haven't overloaded you. Please ask any specific questions you have about how Fastmail works and I (or someone else) will be glad to help.

Bill

[Berenburger]

Also recommended to read: https://www.fastmail.help/hc/en-us/a...reening-emails

[hadaso]

IIRC when a user does not use riles (or perhaps when no rules apply) then emails sent to username+foldername@domain are filed automatically to the folder named foldername. So the easisest way to mimic a service that limits a user to just "multiple inboxes" is to setup each email address that is supposed to receive email sent to address "inboxname@somedomain" as an alias with target username+inboxname@domain".


Another thing: folders view also allows to to file a message in multiple folders. if a user copies a message from one folder to another (as opposed to moving a message), by holding the alt key when dragging, or some other method, then viewing that message would show a list of the folders that include it. It seems that internally there's no difference between folder and label modes: the only difference is in how they appear in the web interface and perhaps in how some actions work in the interface. Supposedly in folder mode an action applied to a message should only apply to the copy in that current folder, but it seems that at least some functions apply to all the copies (which is as I see it only one copy that's associated to multiple folders). For instance, when deleting an attachment from a message the attachment is removed from all instances of the message (in the old interface from many years ago it didn't work that way: when colleagues sent me email with several unrelated attachments I used to file multiple copies of the message and then remove from each copy the attachments that are unrelated to the topic of that folder. In the new interface it is impossible because the action is applied to all the "copies" of the message).


Anyway, the term "multiple inboxes" is not well defined. I understand it as having separate username+password to each inbox that allows separate people to connect to the different inboxes, each one using a different username and allowed to manage their own password' and Fastmail does have this, but charges per user (that is "per inbox).

[SideshowBob]

Originally Posted by janiceheise

While I understand that I can achieve something similar by using labels or folders, I personally associate labels and folders with emails I want to archive rather than actively manage. It wouldn't make sense for me to direct unread emails or those requiring immediate action into labe

It's not much of a "game changer" if all it does is work around your personal prejudices. If you need to separate archive and inbox folders, just reorder them, or put them under separate parent folders.

[BritTim]

Fastmail has the ability to support incoming (and sent) mail in separate hierarchies. It takes some initial setup, but almost anything is achievable. Typically, you want separate inboxes and sent folders by default for each category of mail, with additional folders below the basic folders for holding mail, for instance, from specific important customers, or from suppliers.

A couple of times, I have set up accounts for entrepreneurs who have distinct businesses where email must be carefully segregated and (in particular) where sent mail must specify the correct reply address to maintain the separation. It must all be automatic (once correctly set up) because those people are very busy.

One client has over 700 folders separated into six hierarchies! It works! The only issue is that email to the backup account (which is not Fastmail) is not organised in the same way. Should Fastmail go down for more than a few minutes, and it be necessary to access mail from the backup account, finding old messages is not efficient although it is all there. Luckily, that is rarely necessary.

[n5bb]

The original poster edited their post and added a spam link, so was banned by a moderator. I won’t be responding to any additional posts in this thread and suggest that it be closed.