Gmail history import and sync [legacy]

⚠️ This legacy behavior applies to some Front companies with a start date before Aug 16, 2023. See this article for the latest sync behavior.

Overview

When you connect a Gmail individual inbox or shared inbox to Front, you will have the option to import your history and Front will maintain a two-way sync of statuses with Gmail whenever possible. The cases where status syncing will stop are explained here, which is to be expected since Front and Gmail have different features, and thus why you are using Front. Continue reading to understand the details of how history import and syncing work between Front and Gmail.

For the same information on Office 365 channels, see here. Note that SMTP forwarding channels will not have history import and syncing.

Gmail history import

History import	Shared inbox	Individual inbox
	Optionally import 50K most recent messages upon adding inbox	Optionally import 50K most recent messages upon adding inbox
	Conversations archived by default and found in the Archived tab of shared inbox.	Conversation read/unread and open/archived status mirrored in Front.
Individual inboxes	Status in Gmail	Status in Front
	Read in Inbox	Read in Inbox
	Unread in Inbox	Unread in Inbox
	Open in Inbox	Open in Inbox
	Archived in All Mail	Archived in Inbox
	Snoozed in Inbox	Archived in Inbox
Folders	Location in Gmail	Location in Front
	Inbox	Inbox
	Drafts	Does not import or sync
	Trash folder	Trash tab in Inbox
	Spam folder	Spam tab in Inbox
	Sent folder	Does not import to Front Sent folder, but does import with inbox history (Open and Archived tabs)
	Starred folder	Starred folder
	Label (alongside Inbox label)	Inbox
	Label (without Inbox label)	Skips individual Inbox; shared tag for shared inboxes

Gmail sync

Action in Front	Sync	Effect in Gmail
Conversation is read or unread	✅	Email is read or unread*
New message received in Inbox	✅	New message received in Inbox
Message is sent	✅	Email appears in Sent
New draft is started	❌	Does not sync
Conversation is trashed	✅	Email moves to Trash
Conversation or Message is permanently deleted	❌	Does not sync
Conversation is archived	✅	Email moves to All Mail
Conversation is unarchived	✅	Email moves to Inbox
Conversation is marked as spam	✅	Email moves to Spam
Conversation is unmarked as spam	✅	Email moves to Inbox
Conversation is snoozed	✅	Email moves to All Mail
Snooze expires	✅	Email moves to Inbox
Star or Tag is added or removed	✅	Label is added or removed
Tag is created	✅	Tag is created after first use in Front
Tag is deleted	❌	Does not sync
Move conversation	❌	Move will break status sync
Assign and comment	❌	Does not sync
Delete inbox	❌	Does not sync
Mass archive inbox	✅	Emails move to All Mail

*See the FAQ Why isn't the read status syncing? for exceptions.

FAQ

How do Gmail labels sync to Front exactly?

See this article for details about how Gmail labels become Front tags.

Why isn't the read status syncing?

Read status will only sync for individual (personal) Gmail channels, and for shared conversations when marked as read by the assignee. We use this behavior for shared inbox conversations since many teammates may read a conversation before the assignee, and we wait to sync read status until the teammate handling the conversation reads it.

How long does it take for an import to complete?

Import times vary based on the inbox’s number of messages, message contents, and attachments. It may take up to 72 hours to finish an import.

What order is my history imported?

Messages are imported from newest to oldest.

Anything else I should know?

See this FAQ section for common questions that apply to both the Gmail and Office 365 import and sync.