This is such a simple feature it really needs no explanation, but don’t let it’s simplicity fool you… it’s ridiculously useful.


(This can be made full screen and HD)

How it works

Whenever you compose an email, or reply to one, two little numbers appear in the top right of your message.

The first is how many previous conversations you’ve had, and the second is how many task’s you have for that person (or people).

And if you click the numbers? A popup appears so you can browse those conversations and tasks in depth, without leaving the reply you’re writing.

Turning it on

First, make sure you’re at least on 4.0.5.38.
Then just open your Preferences, and enable ‘Previous Emails’ for Compose/Reply Recipients.

When should you use it?

  • If someone has emailed you and you cannot quite remember them, then you can quickly see all your history together
  • If you need to retrieve a particular piece of information from an earlier discussion, you can find it and copy & paste it into this reply.
  • If you’d forgotten a task you had to do, it’s a gentle reminder to do it (just another way to make sure no tasks get left behind).

Also: This is part of the 4.0.5.38 release, which is covered in more detail in the last blog post.

  

This was written by Andy Mitchell

  

29 Comments

  • Frank Heinen says:

    Brilliant! Awesome feature!! This makes my day!!
    Just updated it. One problem and one improvement request.
    Problem: If I drag and drop (in Chrome) my browser selects all the text too. So whole background etc becomes selected blue.
    Improvement: I’d like to be able to resize the modal window. Now it is sometimes too small for important contacts.

    • Thanks Frank 🙂

      I’ll see if I can solve the text-selecting issue (it must be doable!).

      As for resize… that’s terrifyingly complex, but I’ll give it our best shot. I agree it’s useful. If it’s too complex, I could make the initial size relative to your screen size (so no resize, but it uses as much as it can).

  • Dale Holden says:

    Why is it always me ?

    It is not working for me

    Correct Version 4.0.5.38.

    Settings correct Previous Emails’ for Compose/Reply Recipients. Enabled

    Rebooted Pc and Chrome

    But nothing not a jot!!!!!!!

  • BradCouper says:

    Works a treat!

    Very nice.

  • Csaba Együd says:

    Piece of gold! Thank you friends! 🙂

  • Peter Hawkes says:

    Excellent … what a time saving feature!!!

  • Andrew Gross says:

    I think being reminded of pending actions is a great feature… but I can’t take full advantage of it as I have additional buttons I use for actions (and waiting). This is also why the left action bar is of limited value. If there were a way to tell AIB all of my action and waiting buttons, that would be different!

    • Nathan says:

      Love this feature and I have custom actions too — they show up just fine in the new feature, if they are formatted based on my status labels. For example I have one called !Big — I see these in the list for the person I’m replying to along with the standard labels. Hope that helps you Andrew.

      Great work Andy!

    • Hi Andrew,

      Can you remind me of which labels are missing from the Previous Emails and the Sidebar?

      Previous Emails will pick up all statuses/deadlines (and then all ‘Other Emails’ lumped together).

      I could add other Labels to the sidebar if you need them?

      • Andrew Gross says:

        Andy, I think I was just flat-out wrong. All the labels on the sidebar and the “Who is this person” number are showing. I tried to recreate my error and have not been able to. For now, I will put it down to “looking at the screen for too long” syndrome. 🙂

  • Nathan says:

    This is definitely brilliant! Thanks Andy, works smoothly and is very helpful. And to me I think it also keeps you actively reviewing too… because as you are replying and see that number of actions it’s triggering you to consider more things in the queue. Good work.

  • When just reading the headline and the first paragraph I was ready to condemn it.
    But after watching the video: The subtle way that you implemented this (and made it optional) is really brilliant, so due to it’s “actionability” (?) and lightweightedness compared to other solutions on the market, your implementation is really A+ !

  • Francesco Ragazzi says:

    This is absolutely amazing. Thanks a lot !

  • Elli says:

    Hi Andy, Thanks for this. But I have a suggestionquestion: why have have this in the replycompose and not in the original email itself? It is when I receive the email itself that I need to “remember” who the person is and what I have promised or not – even before deciding whether to reply. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have this before pressing the replycompose button? Thanks for all your work.

  • Dmitry Sotnikov says:

    Nice feature indeed. However, it has issues with the CRM workflow that we have. On all external emails we Bcc our CRM alias. Each time I do that, the feature starts listing all other emails with the same Bcc as related – which obviously kills the purpose of the feature…