Gmail two-way sync behaviors with Front features [legacy]

⚠️ Legacy two-way sync applies to some Front companies with a start date before Aug 16, 2023.

This article contains the expected behavior for legacy two-way sync behaviors with various Front features.

By default, any Gmail mailboxes will have their threading mode set to Gmail.

This will allow for full two-way sync for all inbound and outbound email, open/archived status, and tagging. If you change the threading mode to any other option, the status of messages and tags will not be synced.

Default Gmail threading: Whenever possible, you will maintain a full two-way Gmail sync including open/archived status, tags, and inbound/outbound emails. There will be cases where syncing will not be possible, explained here.

All other non-default threading options: If you choose any non-Gmail threading options such as Regular threading, Regular + Subject-Recipient threading, or No threading:

• What will sync: inbound/outbound emails with Gmail, tags from Gmail-to-Front direction.

• What will not sync: tags from Front-to-Gmail direction, open/archived status of emails. The reason is to respect the separate status of these emails that are now threaded differently from Gmail.

Front has two-way sync for user-created Gmail labels, which sync to Front as private tags (including nesting) within an inbox. Label/tag changes will continue to sync after the initial import.

When you connect a Gmail account to Front, Front will sync your Gmail labels with your Front tags, including nested labels, as long as the channel is set to Gmail threading mode. If you use a different threading mode, tag activity will not sync between Gmail and Front.

The following rules apply for tag sync with Gmail for both shared inboxes and individual inboxes:

Adding and removing tags/labels on conversations will sync between Front and Gmail after the initial import.

• For individual inboxes:

  • When you apply a label in Gmail, a private tag will be created for that label and applied to the message in Front.

  • When you tag a message with a private tag or a shared tag in Front, the message will be labeled in Gmail with a matching label. 

  • When you remove these labels or shared tags in one system, the corresponding label or shared tag will be removed in the other system.

• For shared inboxes: If you apply a private tag to a message in a shared inbox in Front, the message will not be labeled in Gmail. If you remove a label in Gmail that matches a private tag in Front, the private tag will not be removed.

If a Gmail label name matches a tag that already exists, Front will not create a duplicate tag. The Gmail label will map to the Front tag that already exists with the same name. The same is true in reverse — if a Front tag is applied that matches the name of a Gmail label, then a duplicate label will not be created.

If you have nested Gmail labels, this structure will carry over to Front, and we will create tags and nested tags accordingly. 

If you move a conversation from your inbox into a label in Gmail, we will apply the matching tag and archive the conversation. If you move the message between labels in Gmail, we will also update the tags in Front, and the message will remain archived.

Unfortunately there is no way to avoid archiving due to Gmail’s API. If this is an issue for your workflow, we recommend only applying the label in Gmail instead of moving the message out of your inbox into the label folder.

When you delete a label or tag in one system, the corresponding label or tag is not deleted in the other. You will need to delete both the label and tag manually.

The same applies for renaming tags and labels — you will need to update the name of the corresponding tag or label in the other system. Otherwise, you will end up with two separate tags or labels in the other system: one for the old name and one for the new name. 

For example, say you have an Urgent label with a matching Urgent tag in Front. If you rename Urgent to High Priority in Gmail and apply that label, you will create a new tag called High Priority in Front (in addition to the Urgent tag). To keep them in sync, you should update the Front tag to High Priority before using the renamed label.

If you need a backup, you can export tag information via Front's API.

During a history import, the Starred section of your private Gmail inbox will sync to Front. Shared inboxes will not sync the Starred section. Learn more about the Starred section here.

If you star items in your individual inbox, the status will sync with your Gmail inbox. If you star items in a shared inbox, the starred view is personal to you and does not sync with Gmail.

If you are moving messages in a Gmail channel, your channel's threading mode is important. With Gmail threading, there is usually a 1:1 relationship between Front conversations and Gmail conversations. When you move a message, you create multiple Front threads for a single Gmail conversation. When you tag, archive, or delete one of the threads, the others can be tagged, archived, or deleted by mistake because Gmail syncs that action back to all of them.

If you frequently use the Move message feature, we suggest changing your threading mode to another option, which will disable the sync of archiving, deleting, and tagging with Gmail. All emails will continue to show up in both Front and Gmail so you can access them in both systems.

There is a two-way sync between Trash in Front and your trash folder in Gmail. However, permanently deleting a message or conversation in Front will not sync back to your Gmail inbox outside of Front.

If you are switching from an SMTP email provider to Gmail, you will now have the option of utilizing two-way sync between Gmail and Front. Going forward, you can also add new Gmail inboxes to Front with two-way sync.

The two-way sync means that both inbound and outbound emails will be synced between Front and Gmail. If you send in Front, you'll see it in Gmail; if you send in Gmail, you'll see it in Front. Open or archived conversation status will also be synced both ways — so when you archive a conversation in Front, it's also archived in Gmail, granted that your settings have not changed the sync, explained here.

If you want to transition your SMTP shared inboxes to the Gmail sync, you will need to be a Front admin and have the Gmail login credentials to make the changes.

You will first remove the SMTP channel you've been using. Do not delete the inbox if you want to keep your conversation history in Front — just remove the channel. You'll then add a new channel for that email account using the new sync channel option. See instructions below for the detailed steps.

As long as you do not delete the inbox when you remove the channel, existing conversations in Front will not be affected when you make this switch. If you update a conversation (like archiving it) after you reconnect with sync, the conversation will sync that action at that time.

Important: Any drafts you composed using your existing channel will not be retained, so be sure to send or delete any remaining drafts before proceeding.

See this article to review actions that break the status and tag sync between Front and Gmail.