Read and reply
Emails and form messages arrive in your inbox. Open a conversation to read its messages and answers together.
Find your messages
Open All inboxes to see everything, or choose one inbox. Each conversation shows which website or app it belongs to.
Use search to find a sender or message. New messages appear automatically while MailContact is open.
Review Spam
Open Spam in the sidebar to review suspicious form messages. They stay there for 30 days without notifications or quota usage. Owners and collaborators can restore a legitimate message; it then enters the inbox, counts toward the owner’s allowance and triggers the usual alerts. Readers can view Spam but cannot restore messages.
How form spam protection works →
See what needs your attention
- Unread: messages you haven’t opened yet.
- Needs reply: conversations whose latest message hasn’t received a sent reply or been marked as done.
- Done: conversations you’ve replied to or marked as done without sending a reply.
Reading a message doesn’t mark it as answered. You can mark it unread again to come back later.
Finish without replying
When a message doesn’t need an answer, select Mark as done at the top of the conversation. It leaves the Needs reply filter and appears under Done. This is available on every plan and sends no email.
Select Reopen to undo a manual completion. A new message in the same conversation automatically needs attention again. In shared inboxes, owners and collaborators can mark conversations as done; readers can see the status.
Send a reply
- Open the conversation.
- Write your answer in the reply box.
- Check the recipient and select Send reply.
Replies require Pro or Plus and an active contact email. Your answer comes from that address, including when replying to a form message.
Once your reply is sent, the conversation automatically becomes Done. Queued or failed replies don’t complete it. Use the Replied filter to find conversations you’ve answered.
Reply from an email alert
Reply to the alert from the email address that received it. Write your answer above the quoted message. MailContact sends it from your contact address and saves it in the history.
Slack and Discord alerts have a link to open the conversation and reply in MailContact. Set up your alerts →
Let someone help
On Pro and Plus, invite a client or teammate to an inbox. Guests can use Free accounts. Share an inbox →
Reply limits and delivery status
- Replies go to the person who contacted you. You can’t start a conversation with a new recipient.
- Replies support text up to 10,000 characters. Attachments and copied recipients aren’t supported.
- Each reply counts toward the owner’s message allowance, even if delivery later fails.
- Check the conversation for sending or delivery errors. A sent reply counts as answered even if it later bounces. It doesn’t mean the recipient has read it.
- Email alert reply addresses expire after 30 days. Open MailContact to answer an older message.
- Replies sent separately from your usual email app don’t appear here unless you reply to a MailContact alert.