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Reading Emails

Viewing a Message​

Click on any message in the message list to open it in the reading pane. The message body is displayed in a secure sandbox that protects you from potentially harmful content.

You can navigate between messages using the keyboard:

  • j -- next message
  • k -- previous message
  • o or Enter -- open message
  • u -- back to list

External Images​

For privacy protection, MailCopilot blocks external images in emails by default. When a message contains blocked images, you will see a banner:

"External images are blocked for privacy protection."

Click Show images to load them for that specific message. If you prefer to always load images, enable "Always load external images" in Settings > Productivity.

Quoted Text​

When you receive a reply or a forwarded message, MailCopilot automatically collapses the quoted history so you only see the fresh content. The quoted portion is hidden behind a Show quoted text disclosure widget at the bottom of the message body.

Click Show quoted text to expand the full history inline. The collapse widget applies to HTML emails only: top-level and nested <blockquote> blocks are each folded independently using a native <details>/<summary> element — no JavaScript is required. MailCopilot also detects Outlook-style attribution patterns (-----Original Message-----, On … wrote:) when they immediately precede a <blockquote>, and folds those attribution lines together with their quoted block.

Plain-text emails currently render the original quoted history as-is without any collapse. This is a known limitation and is tracked for a future release.

If a message contains no quoted text, the widget does not appear.

Conversation Threading​

When conversation grouping is enabled (the default), related messages are grouped into threads. In the message list, threads with more than one message show a +N badge next to the subject — that is how many additional messages are in the thread; the tooltip shows the total. Click the thread in the message list to open the thread view in the reading pane.

Thread View — Stack of Cards​

Threads with two or more messages are displayed as a vertical stack of cards. Cards are ordered newest to oldest by default. The newest message — the one most recently received — is the active expanded card; older messages are collapsed below it.

  • Collapsed cards show the sender's avatar, sender name, a smart-formatted date, and a short text snippet. If the message has no previewable text, the card shows "(no preview)".
  • Click any collapsed card to expand it. Click an expanded card again to collapse it. With one expanded card per thread, opening a different message replaces the previously expanded one.

Single-message threads and accounts with conversation grouping disabled continue to use the simple single-message viewer — the stack view only appears when there are two or more messages.

You can enable or disable conversation grouping in Settings > Productivity > Group messages into conversations.

Conversation Order​

By default, the newest message appears at the top of the card stack so you see the latest reply first — consistent with how new messages arrive in your inbox. You can switch to chronological order in Settings > Productivity > Conversation order:

  • Newest first (default) — the most recently received message is at the top; older messages are below it.
  • Oldest first — messages are ordered chronologically from top to bottom, with the newest message at the bottom of the stack.

The setting applies to all threads in the reading pane and takes effect immediately when you change it.

Thread Actions​

When viewing a thread with two or more messages, the single toolbar at the top of the mail viewer becomes thread-aware. There is exactly one toolbar — the same toolbar used for single messages — but its buttons adapt to thread semantics:

  • Reply -- compose a reply to the sender of the most recent message in the thread.
  • Reply all -- reply to all participants of the most recent message, excluding your account's primary address.
  • Forward -- forward the most recent message to someone else.
  • Archive thread -- moves the entire thread to the Archive folder. Disabled when no Archive folder is configured.
  • Delete thread -- moves the entire thread to Trash when the account has a Trash folder. If the thread is already in Trash, or the account has no Trash folder, MailCopilot asks for confirmation before permanent deletion.
  • Mark thread read -- marks all messages in the thread as read. This button appears only when at least one message in the thread is unread; it is hidden when the entire thread is already read.
  • Snooze -- temporarily hides the whole thread and brings every message back at a chosen time. The snooze dialog is anchored on the most recent message, but all messages in the thread are snoozed together. Uses the same snooze options as individual messages. Hidden in the Drafts folder.
  • Mark as spam -- in thread mode this opens a confirmation dialog asking whether to mark every message in the thread as spam. Spam is harder to undo than archive, so the extra prompt is intentional.
  • Star, Pin, Print, Open in window, Open in account -- these buttons act on the currently active (expanded) message in the thread, not on the whole thread.

Reply, Reply all, and Forward target the most recent message in the thread. Archive thread, Delete thread, Mark thread read, and Snooze apply to all messages at once.

Working with Attachments​

When the active message has attachments, they appear above the message body. Each attachment shows:

  • A file-type icon chosen from the MIME type, with a fallback to the filename extension when the MIME type is missing, generic (application/octet-stream), or unrecognized: PDF, image, archive, document, spreadsheet, presentation, plain text, embedded .eml message, or a generic file icon when nothing more specific applies.
  • The filename.
  • The file size.
  • A "Preview available" badge on attachments MailCopilot recognises as previewable. The current set is PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP images and PDF documents -- the badge appears only for these types and indicates that preview support is on the roadmap; the row's primary action today is still the download button.

Click the download button on an attachment row to save it to your computer. The download button has an explicit accessible label so screen readers announce the action together with the filename.

When you click a link in an email, MailCopilot checks it for safety:

  • Mismatched links -- if the link text shows one domain but the actual link goes to a different domain, a warning is displayed.
  • HTTP links -- links using unencrypted HTTP trigger a warning.
  • IDN/Punycode domains -- domains using internationalized characters are flagged.

For suspicious links, a confirmation dialog appears where you can see the actual destination and choose whether to open it or cancel.

Message Actions​

While reading a message, you can:

  • Reply -- compose a reply to the sender (shortcut: r).
  • Reply all -- reply to all recipients (shortcut: a).
  • Forward -- forward the message to someone else (shortcut: f).
  • Star / Unstar -- mark the message as important (shortcut: s).
  • Delete -- move the message to Trash (shortcut: # or Delete).
  • Archive -- move the message to the Archive folder (shortcut: e).
  • Mark as spam -- move the message to the Spam folder (shortcut: !).
  • Mark as read / unread -- toggle the read status (shortcuts: Shift+I / Shift+U).
  • Move to folder -- move the message to a specific folder (shortcut: v).
  • Snooze -- temporarily hide the message and have it reappear at a later time. See below for details.
  • Pin / Unpin -- pin a message to the top of the message list. Pinned messages always appear first, regardless of sort order (shortcut: p).
  • Open in window -- open the message in a separate standalone window, so you can read it side-by-side with other content.
  • Print -- print the current email (shortcut: Ctrl+P).

Open in Window​

The Open in window action opens the current message in a dedicated standalone window. This is useful when you want to read or act on a message while keeping the main window free for browsing other folders.

The standalone window is a fully functional workspace. It includes a complete action toolbar at the top with all the actions you need:

  • Reply -- compose a reply to the sender.
  • Reply all -- reply to all recipients.
  • Forward -- forward the message to another recipient.
  • Archive -- move the message to the Archive folder. The button is disabled if no Archive folder is configured for the account.
  • Delete -- move the message to Trash when the account has a Trash folder. If the account has no Trash folder, or the message is already in Trash, MailCopilot asks for confirmation before permanently deleting the message.
  • Star / Unstar -- toggle the starred (flagged) status of the message.
  • Mark as read / Mark as unread -- toggle the read status.
  • Print -- print the message body.

When you click Archive, or Delete for a message that can be moved to Trash, the standalone window shows an inline undo banner for 3 seconds before MailCopilot performs the move and closes the window. Click Undo to cancel — the message stays put and the window remains open. While the undo banner is visible, the Archive and Delete buttons are disabled; Reply, Reply all, Forward, Star / Unstar, Mark as read / Mark as unread, and Print remain available.

If the account has no Trash folder, or the message is already in Trash, Delete asks for confirmation before permanently deleting it — no undo banner appears, and the action is irreversible.

The standalone window uses the same core protections as the main reading pane: sanitized HTML in a no-script sandboxed iframe, blocked remote images, and phishing warnings for links.

Snoozing Messages​

Snooze lets you temporarily hide a message and have it reappear at a chosen time, so you can deal with it when you are ready.

How to Snooze​

Right-click a message in the list and choose Snooze from the context menu.

Snooze Options​

Choose from preset times or set a custom date and time:

  • Later today -- the next half-hour mark.
  • Tomorrow morning (09:00).
  • Next week (Monday 09:00).
  • Custom -- pick any future date and time.

The Snoozed Folder​

Snoozed messages appear in the Snoozed folder in the sidebar. When the snooze time arrives, the message becomes visible again in its original folder and you receive a notification.

Click any snoozed message to open and read it without cancelling the snooze. To unsnooze a message early, click the Cancel button next to it.

Read Later​

Read Later lets you bookmark emails for later reading -- perfect for long newsletters, reference material, or anything you want to come back to when you have time.

How to Add to Read Later​

  • Right-click a message and choose Read Later from the context menu.
  • Or ask the AI assistant to mark an email for reading later.

The Read Later Folder​

Bookmarked messages appear in the Read Later folder in the sidebar (the book icon). Unlike snoozed messages, Read Later emails remain visible in their original folder -- the Read Later folder is an additional view, not a filter.

Click any message in the Read Later folder to open and read it. To remove a message from the list, click the Remove from list button next to it.

You can open the Read Later folder from the sidebar.

When a Message Cannot Load​

If MailCopilot cannot fetch the message body — for example because the connection to the IMAP server timed out (after 10 seconds) — it shows an offline placeholder instead of a blank screen:

"Message body is not available offline. Only headers are cached."

A Retry button appears below the message. Click it to attempt fetching the body again. If the connection has been restored, the message will load normally.

Meeting Invitations​

When a message contains a calendar invite (an .ics attachment using the iTIP protocol), MailCopilot displays an inline Meeting invitation card above the message body. No external calendar app or cloud service is required.

The card shows:

  • Event title — the summary of the meeting.
  • When — the start date and time.
  • Organizer — the organizer listed in the calendar invite (which may differ from the email sender if the invite was sent on behalf of someone else).
  • Location — the meeting room or conference link, if provided.

Below the event details, three response buttons are available: Accept, Tentative, and Decline. Clicking any of them sends a standard iTIP reply email to the organizer via SMTP using your account credentials. The card then updates to confirm your choice (for example, "You accepted this invitation"). If the response cannot be sent, an error message is shown instead.

The Accept / Tentative / Decline buttons appear only for actionable meeting requests (METHOD:REQUEST invites) where the organizer is not you. Cancellations, calendar-feed publications, replies, and self-organized events do not show RSVP buttons — instead you will see a "cancelled" badge or a "not actionable" notice.

Limitations in this release​

  • No system calendar integration. MailCopilot does not add the event to your operating system calendar (macOS Calendar, GNOME Calendar, etc.). Adding this is planned for a future release.
  • Recurring events. Repeating meetings are shown as a single instance; the recurrence pattern is not displayed.
  • Counter-proposals. You cannot propose a different time — only Accept, Tentative, or Decline are available.
  • Cancelled events. When the organizer cancels a meeting, the card shows "This event has been cancelled" and the response buttons are hidden.

Undo Actions​

In account-folder views, archiving, marking as spam, or moving to Trash shows an undo bar at the bottom of the screen with a countdown timer. Click Undo to reverse the action before the timer expires. Permanent deletes and some unified or cross-account actions do not show an undo bar.