Multiple email accounts in one CRM: how Groundbase decides which one sends

Yes — you can connect several email accounts to Groundbase and read them all in one inbox, or one at a time. Replies go out from the mailbox the message arrived on, and a new email to a contact defaults to the mailbox you last used with them, so a client who knows you as studio@ doesn't suddenly hear from personal@.

Plenty of one-person businesses run on more than one address: a business domain and an old Gmail that clients still use, two brands, or a shared hello@ beside your own name. The CRM should know all of them, and it shouldn't make you think about which one is sending.

Adding a mailbox

Settings → Email → Your mailboxes → Add a mailbox. Pick Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud or a custom server, enter the address and an app password, and it's connected beside the others. There's no limit on how many.

Each mailbox connects over standard IMAP and SMTP — the same way a mail app on your phone does — so your mail stays in your own account and goes out through your own provider. Gmail needs an app password rather than your normal one; here's how to make one.

Every connected mailbox is checked for new mail every few minutes, all of them, not just the first.

One inbox, or one at a time

Once you have two or more, the inbox rail lists them with All inboxes at the top. All inboxes shows everything together, with each conversation labelled by the address it came in on. Click a mailbox to see only its mail. Your choice is remembered on that computer.

Which mailbox sends

This is the part that matters, because sending from the wrong address is how clients end up in two threads with you.

The From menu only appears when there's a real choice, so with one mailbox and no aliases, compose looks exactly as it did.

Each mailbox also keeps its own signature and its own Send-as aliases, so the sign-off on your brand address and your personal one can differ, and the right one is added automatically.

Replies to campaigns

Campaigns go out through Resend, not through a mailbox, but they still know when someone replies — a drip can skip its remaining steps for anyone who has answered. That check looks across every connected mailbox. The one condition: the campaign's Reply-To has to be one of those mailboxes, otherwise the reply lands somewhere Groundbase can't see. The campaigns post covers that setup.

On the desktop and phone

• Desktop app. Works the same way. Each mailbox's password is kept on that computer, encrypted by Windows. A mailbox connected on the web keeps syncing through the server until you re-enter its password on the desktop, so nothing is missed in between.
• Android app. You can switch between mailboxes and All inboxes, reply, and compose with the From menu. Adding a new mailbox is done on the web or desktop.

What it doesn't do

• Workflows and invoices use your first-connected mailbox. There's no per-workflow choice of sending mailbox yet. If one address should handle your automated mail, connect it first.
• Only the Inbox folder syncs. Mail your provider files into another folder or label before it reaches the Inbox won't appear.
• Your email history isn't on the contact's timeline. You see a person's email conversations in the inbox, not mixed into their activity feed.
• It's not a shared team inbox. Groundbase is for one person; there's no assigning threads to someone else or seeing who's replying.

Who this isn't for

If you live in one address and always will, none of this changes anything for you — one mailbox works exactly as before. And if what you need is a support desk where several people answer from one help@ address, a shared-inbox tool built for teams will serve you better.

Where it fits

Groundbase is a CRM for one-person businesses that sends email and texts through your own accounts and connects to the AI assistant you already use. Several mailboxes are on the same single plan as everything else. The Email integration help article covers connecting, signatures, Send-as aliases and scheduling in detail.

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Running more addresses than this handles well? Tell me how you've set it up: blog-mailboxes@groundbasecrm.com — I read every one.