Conversations: Troubleshooting

Fix mailboxes that aren't syncing, understand the Syncing, Revoked, and Error states, the 30-day history limit, and duplicate threads.

Written By Dennis Rodin

Last updated 17 days ago

If your mailbox isn't pulling in email, this guide walks through the most common causes and fixes. You'll find your inbox in the left sidebar under Conversations, with the Refresh button (the circular-arrow icon) next to the search box.

Why your email isn't syncing yet

A newly connected mailbox doesn't fill up all at once. When you first connect Gmail or Outlook, MonuDesk starts importing your email in the background, and threads appear in the list progressively as they come in. You'll see a toast that reads "importing the last 30 days of email, and threads appear as they sync."

If nothing is showing up, check these first:

  • Give the import a few minutes, since a busy mailbox takes longer to backfill.

  • Make sure the mailbox you expect is selected in the switcher at the top of the left rail (or choose All inboxes to see everything at once).

  • Check the mailbox status (see below): a Revoked or Error state stops new mail from arriving.

  • Confirm the email actually landed in the last 30 days. Older mail is never imported.

Mailbox states: Syncing, Revoked, and Error

Each connected mailbox has a status that tells you whether email is flowing. MonuDesk checks this automatically, so a status change surfaces on its own within a minute or so.

  • Syncing: the mailbox is importing your last 30 days of email. This is normal right after you connect. Threads appear as the import progresses, so just give it time.

  • Revoked: the email provider revoked MonuDesk's access. This usually happens after a password change or when the original consent expired. Email will not sync until you reconnect the mailbox.

  • Error: the sync ran into a problem. Try the Refresh button first; if the status doesn't clear, reconnect the mailbox.

Once everything is healthy the mailbox shows as Connected. A mailbox you intentionally disconnect shows as Disconnected: its existing conversations stay readable, but no new mail comes in.

Only the last 30 days is imported

When you connect a mailbox, MonuDesk backfills the last 30 days of email, and only those 30 days. Older messages are never pulled in, even after the mailbox finishes syncing. This is a hard limit, not a delay, so if you're looking for an email from two months ago it won't appear here.

Going forward, new email arrives continuously, so your history grows naturally from the day you connect. If you need an older message, look in Gmail or Outlook directly.

Seeing a duplicate conversation?

MonuDesk has two safeguards against duplicates:

  • The same email can't be saved twice.

  • Starting a new conversation with a contact who already has an active thread opens that existing thread instead of creating an empty duplicate.

If you still see two threads for the same person, it's almost always because they're using two different email addresses. Conversations groups mail by the other person's email address (one thread per address), so a message from their work email and one from their personal email land in separate threads. To keep everything together, ask them to reply from a single address.

Refreshing and reconnecting a mailbox

Your inbox updates on its own. New mail pushes in near-instantly, and a background check runs every few seconds while a mailbox is syncing and otherwise every half-minute. You rarely need to do anything by hand.

When you want to force a check instead of waiting, click the Refresh button (the circular-arrow icon) next to the search box. It pulls in any mail that arrived since the last sync and is the right first step for an Error status.

If a mailbox is Revoked, or Refresh doesn't clear an Error, reconnect it:

  • Open the mailbox switcher, then the ⋮ menu, and connect the mailbox again through Google or Microsoft. Reconnecting the same address restores syncing, and your existing conversations stay in place.

  • To disconnect first, use ⋮ → Disconnect. It stops syncing new email; existing conversations remain readable and you can reconnect later. Disconnecting also frees one of your three mailbox slots.

Watch out: an email address that's already connected to a different MonuDesk company can't be connected here. You'll see an "already connected elsewhere" message, so disconnect it from the other company first.

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