How to receive emails as conversations via IMAP
Turn on reading for the email inbox you already use so your customers' emails become conversations in Cognizy, without touching your DNS.
2 min readBasicUpdated on November 12, 2026
Where to find it in Cognizy
Video lesson coming soon. For now, follow the steps below.
With IMAP receiving, Cognizy reads your company's inbox (Gmail, Outlook, Titan, and others) and turns every incoming email into a conversation in Serve › Conversations, where your team and the AI can reply. Your inbox keeps working normally.
Where to find it in Cognizy
Before you start
- Only the owner and admins can manage channels.
- The email channel needs to already be created (step 2 on the screen).
- Have your provider's IMAP server address (for example, imap.gmail.com) and the mailbox username ready.
- Gmail and Outlook require an app password, different from your regular password. In Google, it's created under Google Account, in App Passwords, and requires two-step verification to be turned on.
Step by step
- Step 1:
In the footer of the menu, click Settings.
- Step 2:
Under Channels, click Email.
- Step 3:
Under 3. Receive emails, click Set up receiving.
- Step 4:
The channel window opens on the Receiving tab. Check Receive emails via IMAP (creates conversations). Fill in IMAP Host (in the example, imap.studiovidaleve.example), IMAP Username (the mailbox address), and in IMAP Password, paste the app password created with your provider. Leave port 993 with SSL/TLS and the INBOX folder.
- Step 5:
Click Update.
- Step 6:
Step 3 now shows Receiving via IMAP. Click Test receiving to check the connection with the mailbox.
- Step 7:
You'll see Connection successful. Messages from this mailbox will become conversations. From then on, new emails arrive in Serve › Conversations.
How to know it worked
Step 3 shows Receiving via IMAP and the test returns a successful connection. Send a test email to the mailbox: within a few minutes it will appear as a conversation in Serve › Conversations.
If something goes wrong
The test says the password is wrong.
Gmail and Outlook don't accept the regular account password over IMAP. Create an app password with your provider and paste it into IMAP Password.
I don't know the IMAP host.
Search for "IMAP" in your email provider's help center. Common examples: imap.gmail.com and outlook.office365.com, port 993 with SSL/TLS.
Next step
Set the channel's default department so email conversations go to the right team.
Sign in with your Cognizy account to save your progress.
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