Actions

Manually labeling and filing emails into folders is a tedious and time-consuming process that drains productivity. InMoat automates this entire process, allowing you to have more control over your inbox management workflow and preferences.

In this guide, learn how to set up custom actions to automate your personalized workflow, so you can save time and focus on what matters. 

*Note: Actions are only available on paid plans.

What are Actions? 

Actions are like rules that get applied to incoming emails. They automate the handling of specific new emails, whether you choose to Archive, move to Trash, or to your preferred folder, based on your workflow preferences. 

Actions can be applied on top of selected Smart Filters. 
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Types of Actions

InMoat supports the following actions:

Tagging

You can assign a tag to matching incoming emails (note: for Gmail users, Tags are the same as ‘labels’; For Outlook users, tags are equivalent to ‘Categories’). 

For example, if you set a Tag action for the smart filter ‘Renewal Notices’, every incoming email that matches will automatically have a ‘Renewal Notices’ tag/label/category assigned to it. See screengrab below. 

The name of the tag will be the same name of the Smart Filter you selected. Changing tag names is not available at this time.
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Mark as Read

Marking an email as ‘read’ will do exactly that– mark it as read and leave it in your primary mailbox.

Move to Folder

The move to folder action allows you to automatically file away incoming emails to a designated mailbox folder of your choice. It’s great for emails that are important enough to save, but do not require your attention (eg. receipt, confirmation, etc).

To move an email to a folder, select the Move to Folder option and select the folder of your choice. All folders listed will mirror exactly what you have within your actual email mailbox. 

Note: InMoat does not support the creation of folders. To create a new folder, you can do so directly in your email mailbox. 

How to create a folder (AKA ‘label’) in Gmail:

Go to Gmail and click ‘+’ next to Labels on the sidebar of your inbox → name the label → hit Create. 

How to create a folder in Outlook:

Go to Outlook → go to the Folders section on the sidebar on your inbox→ select ‘Create new folder’ → Name the folder → hit Save. 

Note: if you create a new label or folder within your mailbox, you’ll have to refresh your InMoat dashboard in order for your label/folder to appear in the Move to Folder options list.
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Archive

The Archive action will automatically archive incoming matching emails. 

Once an email is archived, it will be moved out of your primary mailbox view and placed into your archives. You can always retrieve the email at any time by going to your archive folder.

For Gmail users, the archive folder is called “All Mail”. For Outlook users, it’s called “Archive”.
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Move to Trash

The move to trash action will automatically send incoming matching emails to the Trash within your mailbox. 

Note: emails that are moved to the trash folder will still be retrievable for 30 days. Afterwards, both Gmail and Outlook will permanently delete. 
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How to use actions

Actions can only be applied on top of a selected Smart Filter. In other words, you can only add an action to a filter that’s already turned on. 

To set an action, go to your Smart Filters page → toggle on the filter of your choice → Click the ‘Set up Actions’ button → select the action you want to perform. 
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Recommendations for using actions 

Actions ultimately give you more control over your inbox management workflow and preferences. How you want your emails to be managed is up to you! 

Here are some general tips on when/how to use actions:

Tip 1. Focus on important emails only.

Use actions for only the types of emails that are important to you. Don’t worry about unimportant emails as they’ll automatically be filed away to your @InMoat folder if the smart filter isn’t selected. 

Tip 2. For record’s sake only

As a friendly reminder, actions are great for semi-important emails you may want to save for future reference, such as Travel confirmations, receipts, shipping confirmations, etc. You can either use the archive or move to folder action.
Don’t bother moving important emails that require your immediate attention to a folder– instead leave them in your primary inbox so you can address them right away.

Tip 3. Less is more. 

Minimize the number of folders you move emails to. The more intricate of a workflow you create, the more folders you’ll have to check each time. 

Keep it simple. Use actions to move emails into no more than 3-5 folders. In fact, we recommend using 1 folder only. Learn more about the InMoat’s Inbox Zero Distraction Methodology.

Tip 4. Tag important emails only

If an email requires your immediate attention, set a tag for it on the relevant smart filter. This will help give you a quick breakdown of what your most important emails of the day are, setting you up for success. 

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