Composing email
Click + New mail in the top-left of the sidebar to open the compose window.
Adding recipients
- To — primary recipients. Type a name or email address; matching contacts appear as suggestions.
- Cc — carbon copy. Click Cc to show the field. Recipients can see all Cc'd addresses.
- Bcc — blind carbon copy. Recipients cannot see who else was Bcc'd.
Formatting your message
The compose toolbar lets you apply:
- Text formatting — Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough
- Font & size — choose from Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman, and more
- Lists — bulleted and numbered
- Alignment — Left, Center, Right, Justify
- Links — highlight text and click the link icon to insert a URL
- Colours — text colour and highlight colour
- Emoji — click the smiley icon to open the emoji picker
AI writing assistant
Click the AI ✨ button in the toolbar to get a smart reply suggestion based on your subject and draft content. You can accept, edit, or dismiss it.
Reading email
Click any message in the inbox list to open it in the reading pane. Unread messages appear with a bold subject line and a coloured dot.
- Star a message using the star icon to mark it as important
- Archive removes it from your inbox but keeps it searchable
- Delete moves it to Trash (held for 30 days before permanent deletion)
- Mark as unread is available in the message action menu (⋯)
Replying & forwarding
- Reply — responds to the sender only
- Reply all — responds to the sender and all other recipients
- Forward — sends the message to a new recipient
All three options are available at the bottom of the open message or in the action menu (⋯).
Attachments
To attach a file, click the paperclip icon in the compose toolbar and select your file.
| Plan | Max attachment size |
|---|---|
| Free | 5 MB per file |
| Personal | 25 MB per file |
| Business | 50 MB per file |
Folders & labels
System folders
Every account includes these default folders:
- Inbox — incoming messages
- Sent — messages you've sent
- Drafts — unsent drafts saved automatically
- Scheduled — emails queued to send at a future time
- Snoozed — messages temporarily hidden until a chosen time
- Starred — messages you've marked as important
- Spam — messages caught by the spam filter
- Trash — deleted messages (auto-purged after 30 days)
- Archive — messages removed from inbox but kept long-term
Custom folders
Create your own folders by clicking + next to the Folders heading in the sidebar. Drag and drop messages into folders to organise your inbox.
Labels
Labels are colour-coded tags that can be applied to any message — unlike folders, one message can have multiple labels. Create labels from the Labels section in the sidebar.
Search
Use the search bar at the top of the page to find any email. Search looks across subject, sender, recipients, and body text.
Search tips
- Search is case-insensitive
- Results appear across all folders including Sent and Archive
- Use from:, to:, or subject: prefixes to narrow results (e.g.
from:[email protected])
Filters & rules
Automatically sort, label, or delete incoming messages using filters. Go to Settings → Filters to create rules.
Each filter can match on:
- Sender address or domain
- Subject keywords
- Recipient address
And perform actions like:
- Move to a specific folder
- Apply a label
- Mark as read
- Star the message
- Delete immediately
Scheduling emails
Send an email at a future date and time:
- Compose your message
- Click the ▾ arrow next to the Send button
- Choose Schedule send
- Pick a date and time
- Click Schedule
Scheduled messages appear in your Scheduled folder. You can cancel or edit them any time before they send.
Snooze
Snooze a message to temporarily remove it from your inbox and have it reappear at a time you choose — useful for emails you need to act on later.
- Hover over a message in the inbox list
- Click the clock icon that appears
- Choose when you want it to return
Snoozed messages appear in the Snoozed folder and return to the top of your inbox at the selected time.
Spam & phishing protection
Tobava Mail automatically filters spam and phishing attempts using industry-standard email authentication:
- SPF — verifies the sending server is authorised to send on behalf of a domain
- DKIM — verifies the message was not modified in transit
- DMARC — ensures only authenticated mail from a domain is accepted
Messages that fail these checks are moved to Spam automatically. If a legitimate email ends up in Spam, open it and click Not spam to move it to your inbox and help train the filter.