Email Inbox Syncing simplifies your communication within Insightly CRM by enabling seamless, bidirectional email integration.
With a Synced Email Account, emails sent to or from Insightly are automatically synced with your connected email account such as Gmail, Office 365, or Outlook - provided the recipient is already saved as a Contact or Lead in Insightly. Emails that belong to the same conversation are automatically grouped into threaded conversations, giving you full visibility into customer interactions in one place.
When replying to an email, a streamlined send/reply modal opens directly inside Insightly. Replies are automatically captured and added to the existing conversation thread (for Synced Email Accounts), ensuring every interaction is tracked without manual entry.
Available across all Insightly pricing plans, Email Inbox Syncing helps reduce administrative effort, improve data accuracy, and ensure that no message is ever missed..
How Email Sync works
With real-time syncing, emails from and to connected inboxes are automatically captured - no manual forwarding or logging required.
Once email syncing is enabled, all outgoing emails and incoming replies are automatically shared between Insightly and the connected third-party email client. This keeps communication consistent and up to date across both platforms. For example - if a user sets up full Outlook email sync in Insightly, any emails sent from Insightly using the synced Outlook account will appear in the user’s Outlook Sent folder. Likewise, replies to those emails will appear in the user’s Outlook Inbox, as long as the Outlook mailbox is properly configured in Insightly’s email settings
Each email is automatically linked to the appropriate CRM record based on the sender or recipient’s email address. For example, if an email is from a recognized contact, it will be automatically associated with that Contact’s record in Insightly.
For Synced Email Accounts, replies to that email will be grouped into the same conversation thread, keeping the full exchange together.
Please take a look at the video to see the setup in action.
How to setup Email Sync
To ensure both incoming and outgoing emails are logged and matched to the correct records in Insightly, follow these steps:
Click your Profile icon in the top-right corner and navigate to User Settings.
From the left-hand menu, select Email Settings.
In the Email Accounts section, click Add Account.
Choose Synced Email Account in the dropdown
Enter the email address you would like to sync.
You will then be redirected to the authentication page associated with your email provider: Google, Microsoft, or Outlook.
After authentication, your email will appear in the Email Accounts list with a verification checkmark.
If you would like to make the email your primary (default) email, select the Primary option. Once connected, your email account will be linked to Insightly, and you’ll see a confirmation message: "Email Account Synced."
- If you deactivate a synced email account, any replies to emails sent through Insightly will no longer sync automatically going forward. However, all previously synced email threads will remain stored in Insightly.
- Email sync will be automatically disabled for accounts that remain inactive for more than 30 days. Upon your next login, you'll be prompted to reauthorize your email account to resume syncing.
Features of Email Sync
Bi-Directional Sync
Using Insightly’s email interface, you can send and receive emails with existing Contacts or Leads directly from your connected email account. When a Synced Email Account is enabled, related replies are grouped into a single threaded conversation—similar to Gmail or Outlook.
A counter displays the total number of emails in the thread, and the complete conversation is shown in chronological order, with the most recent message at the top.
Email Sync with Contacts or Leads
With Insightly’s full email sync, only emails that include at least one existing Contact or Lead in your CRM will sync into Insightly. The system checks all sender and recipient email addresses against existing records. If at least one match is found, the email is synced automatically.
For Synced Email Accounts, all subsequent replies are automatically added to the same conversation thread.
Automatic Contact creation
An existing Contact or Lead must be present in the CRM to initiate the initial sync. After the first sync, Insightly can automatically create new Contact records for additional participants included in the same email thread—if the user enables this option in Email Settings.
To manage this setting, navigate to:
Email Settings > Email Sync Settings
Enable the checkbox:
“Opt-in on creating Contacts or Organizations when Syncing Emails.”
- If enabled, new Contact records will be created from synced email participants.
- If disabled, no new Contact records will be generated from email data.
Automatic Reply Logging
When a Contact or Lead replies to an email, their response is automatically logged in the Emails list and within related records where email activity is tracked, such as the Activity tab of a Contact or Lead profile.
For Synced Email Accounts, replies are added to the existing conversation thread rather than appearing as separate records. Any user responses are also captured within the same thread.
Seamless Continuation of Conversations
After sending or receiving an email in Insightly, you can continue the conversation from your regular email platform (e.g., Gmail or Outlook), and vice versa.
For Synced Email Accounts, all replies within the conversation automatically sync back to Insightly and remain grouped in the same thread.
Automatic Attachment Sync
Attachments from synced emails are automatically saved to the Related > Files section of the corresponding record. File type and size details are included, making attachments easy to locate and download.Real-Time Email Notifications
Receive instant notifications for new emails, including key details and direct links to associated Contacts, Leads, or Opportunities—ensuring you never miss an important update.
Synced vs. Classic Email Accounts
Synced Email Account (Recommended)
- Bi-directional email sync
- Threaded conversations
- Full conversation history grouped in one view
- Unified send/reply modal
- AI-powered thread summaries of threads
- Seamless syncing with Gmail or Outlook folders
Classic Email Account
- Redesigned email interface
- AI-powered summaries and email replies
- Unified send/reply modal
- No conversation threading
- No bi-directional inbox sync
Threaded conversations are available only with Synced Email Accounts. Since Synced Email is included across all Insightly plan tiers, users can upgrade at no additional cost to access threading and full inbox sync. To set it up, follow the steps mentioned above.