Getting the Most Out of Email Sync in Coherence

Why Email Sync Matters

Email remains the backbone of business communication. But most CRMs treat email as an afterthought - something you manually log or forward to a special address.

Coherence takes a different approach. With two-way email sync, every message you send and receive automatically connects to the right records. No logging. No forwarding. No extra work.

Here's how to get the most out of this feature.

Setting Up Email Sync

Connecting your email takes about a minute:

1. Go to Settings → Communications → Email
2. Click Add mailbox
3. Choose Gmail or Microsoft 365 (Outlook)
4. Sign in and authorize Coherence to access your email
5. Done

Coherence starts backfilling your existing messages and then checks the mailbox for new mail on a short polling interval (every 15 seconds by default), so new messages appear shortly after they reach your inbox.

What Gets Synced?

Coherence syncs your connected account:

• Emails to and from your mailbox
• Attachments, available from the message
• Thread structure (so you can follow conversations)
• Folder and label organization from Gmail/Outlook

We bring in your complete email history, not just new mail, so you never have to wonder if something was missed. Changes flow back too: delete a message in Gmail and it's removed from Coherence as well.

How Automatic Linking Works

The magic of email sync is automatic linking. Linking is based on email addresses. When you send an email to [email protected]:

1. Coherence looks for records whose email field contains [email protected]
2. The email is linked to the matching record, so it shows up with that record's communications

No manual work required. Because matching is by email address only, an email does not automatically appear on a company or project record unless that record itself holds a participant's email address.

Getting Matches Right

• Keep email addresses on records: A contact without an email address can't be matched.
• Add every address a person uses: If someone writes from a personal and a work address, store both.
• Link a thread by hand when you need to: From a thread, you can create a new record from the conversation or unlink a record that doesn't belong.

Tips for Power Users

Use Email Templates

Create templates for common emails - introduction messages, follow-ups, proposals - so you aren't rewriting the same message every week. When you compose from a record, template variables can be filled from that record's fields.

Track Opens and Clicks

On Pro and Team, turn on open and click tracking in your mailbox's tracking settings to see when recipients open your messages and which links they click. Open counts and click details appear on the sent message in the thread.

Schedule Sends

Write an email now, send it later. Perfect for reaching clients in different time zones or spacing out your follow-ups.

Sending Email from Coherence

You can start a new email from anywhere with the command palette (⌘K or Ctrl+K, then Compose Email) or from Mail. You can also send directly from a record that has an email address, if the record's Mail tab is turned on for that module (it's available to managers, admins, and owners by default):

1. Open the contact (or any record with an email field)
2. Go to its Mail tab
3. Compose your message with full formatting - the recipient is pre-filled from the record
4. Send - it goes through your connected Gmail or Outlook

The email appears in both Coherence and your regular inbox. Replies come back to your inbox and sync to Coherence automatically.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Emails Not Syncing?

First, check your mailbox status in Settings → Communications → Email. If you see a warning, use Reconnect to re-authorize your email.

Wrong Contact Match?

Matching follows email addresses, so check which records hold the address in question. If a record shouldn't be linked to a thread, unlink it from the thread's linked records; if an address belongs to someone else, update it on the record so future messages match correctly.

Privacy and Security

A quick note on how we handle your email:

• Your data is yours: We never sell your email content or use it for ads. We share it only to run features you use, such as AI summaries through our AI providers (who don't train on it), and with teammates as your workspace's sharing settings allow
• Encrypted in transit and at rest: Message content is stored encrypted; Coherence manages the keys, so this is not end-to-end encryption
• Private categorization: Smart categories are assigned by rules, not by an AI model reading your mail
• Easy deletion: Delete a connected mailbox and its synced messages, labels, and connectors are removed

See our privacy policy and security page for full details.

Start Syncing Today

Ready to experience email that's actually connected to your work? Connect your Gmail or Outlook in Coherence and see the difference.

Connect your email →