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Email widget: keep an email on a desk

Send an email, or its whole thread, from Mail to a desk, where it stays to be read like a document even after you archive it.

All plansUpdated

The Email widget keeps one email, or the email and the replies to it, on a desk, where you read it like a document. It stays there even after you archive the message in Mail, or it stops matching any rule, because the desk keeps it for as long as you want it.

Use it for the message a piece of work depends on: the quote on a deal desk, the brief on a project desk, the agreed terms on a client desk, the instructions for an event. Anyone opening the desk finds it in the same place as the work.

More about this widget Coming soon

Before you start

  • Connect a mailbox in Mail. You send an email to a desk from Mail, which runs in the PlexiDesk desktop app. See Connect your email account Coming soon.
  • Plans. The Email widget is part of every plan.
  • It starts from Mail. The Email widget is not in the Add widget menu, because it always starts from a message.

Send an email to a desk

  1. Go to Office and click Mail under Communicate.
  2. Open the email you want to keep.
  3. Click Send to desk, in the row of buttons with Reply, Reply all and Forward. A list of your desks opens.
  4. Under the desk you want, click one of:
    • This email to keep just this message.
    • Whole thread to keep this message together with the replies to it.
  5. A notice confirms it, for example Email sent to Q4 launch plan. Click Open in the notice to go to the desk.

If you have no desks yet, the list says so. Create a desk first, then send the email to it. See Create a desk.

For more ways to turn mail into work, such as making a task from a message, see Send mail to a desk or a task Coming soon.

Read the email on the desk

  • The top shows the subject. Under it is the sender for one email, or how many messages are in the thread, for example 3 messages in this thread.
  • One email shows its date and who it was sent to, then the message.
  • A whole thread shows every message, oldest first, each with its sender and date.
  • Quoted history, the earlier text that replies often repeat at the bottom, is tucked away. Click Show and the number of more lines of quoted history to see it, and Hide quoted history to tuck it away again.
  • Attachments are listed by name under the message they came with. Rest the pointer on one to see its size.

Switch between one email and the thread

At the bottom of the widget, click Show the whole thread to see the replies too, or Show just this message to go back to the one email. The widget changes in place.

Check for new replies

Click the circular arrow at the top right of the widget. Its tooltip reads Check for new replies. When the widget shows a whole thread, replies that have reached your inbox since are added.

Open it in Mail

Click the open button at the top right of the widget. Its tooltip reads Open in Mail. Mail opens with the message, ready to reply, forward or do anything else Mail offers. See Read and reply to mail Coming soon.

When the widget shows a note instead of the email

The widget says What it means
The text of this message has not been downloaded yet — it will appear once PlexiDesk has read it. PlexiDesk is still fetching the message's text from your mailbox. It appears by itself shortly.
This message has no text body. The email was sent without any text, for example with only an attachment.
This message is not in PlexiDesk's local copy of your mail. The message is not on this computer, for example because the desk is open on a different computer from the one where you sent the email to it. The widget still shows the subject and sender it was saved with. Open the desk on the computer where you sent the email to it to read it in full.

When you share a live view of the desk

When you share a live web view of the desk, the Email widget appears to viewers as a placeholder, so the email is not shown. See Share a live web view of a desk.

Good ways to use it

  • The quote on a deal desk. Send the supplier's quote with This email, so the exact figures stay on the desk while the conversation moves on.
  • A brief that grows. Send the client's brief with Whole thread, then click Check for new replies as answers come in.
  • Mail and the message that matters, together. Put an Inbox widget on the desk for the flow of mail, and an Email widget for the one message everyone needs.

For a full walkthrough with Contacts, Inbox, Email and Chat together, see Keep a client's people, mail and chat on their desk.

Common questions

I cannot find Email in the Add widget menu. The Email widget always starts from a message. Open the email in Mail and click Send to desk.

If I archive the email in Mail, does it disappear from the desk? No. The widget keeps showing it.

Does the widget update when someone replies? When it shows a whole thread, click Check for new replies to add the replies that have reached your inbox. When it shows one email, it stays exactly as it is.

Can I keep the same email on more than one desk? Yes. Send it to each desk from Mail.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].