How Letterboxx works
Letterboxx connects to the mail account you already use, downloads newsletter copies from the folders you choose, and gives those copies a calmer place to read, organize, highlight, search, and keep. It is an email newsletter reader and newsletter app for Mac built around copies, not inbox control. If you are still choosing a workflow, read the best way to read newsletters on a Mac.
The model
Letterboxx is not a full live mirror of Mail, Gmail, or Outlook. It connects directly to email accounts using IMAP and uses selected mail folders as sources for the newsletters you want to read later. For more context on why that matters, read A Local-First Reading Library for Newsletters.
Short answer: email remains the source of truth, while Letterboxx becomes the newsletter reading app where selected copies can be organized, cleaned up, highlighted, searched, and backed up on your Mac.
After you connect an account or choose a folder, Letterboxx retrieves newsletters from that selected source and continues checking selected folders for new issues. Original messages remain on the mail server unless you explicitly delete them.
Email still handles
Letterboxx handles
Step by step
Each step has a deeper guide when you need it: import newsletters from Gmail, organize newsletters with Letterboxxes, read with Clean View, highlight email newsletters, and protect the library with newsletter backup and restore.
| Step | What happens | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Connect | Add Gmail or an IMAP account such as iCloud, Outlook, DreamHost, or a custom mail server. | Letterboxx can see the folders where newsletters arrive. |
| Choose | Select the folders or labels that contain newsletters you actually want to read. | The app imports newsletter sources, not every message in the account. |
| Import | Letterboxx downloads local copies into your Mac library while originals stay on the mail server unless deleted. | Your inbox remains familiar, and newsletters get a dedicated reading home. |
| Read | Organize with Letterboxxes, use Clean View, save highlights, search, and back up the library as Letterboxx brings in new issues from selected folders. | Newsletters become a collection you can return to instead of a pile to clear. |
Folder choice
Some people have a Gmail label for newsletters. Some use an iCloud folder. Some have several topic folders. Letterboxx works best when the source folders are intentional, because the app is building a reading library rather than copying a whole inbox.
After import
The original newsletter remains on the mail server unless you delete it. The copy in Letterboxx gets reading tools that make it easier to finish, organize, remember, and protect.
Reading tools
Library tools
Questions
No. Letterboxx is a dedicated Mac app for reading and organizing newsletter copies. Your normal email app still handles everyday mail, replies, sending, and account management.
No. Letterboxx downloads local copies from selected folders. The original messages stay on the mail server unless you explicitly delete them.
Yes. After you connect an account or choose a folder, Letterboxx retrieves newsletters from that selected source and continues checking selected folders for new issues.
Deleting a newsletter in Letterboxx moves it to Letterboxx's Trash first. If the newsletter still has a server reference, permanently removing it from Trash can delete the original message from the connected email account.
No. Normal import uses a read-safe fetch. Read/unread exchange only happens if you choose an account read-status mode that sends or syncs read status.
Yes. Start with one folder or label, then add more later. Letterboxx is designed around selected newsletter sources.
Build the library
Connect the account you already use, choose the newsletter folders that matter, and let Letterboxx turn copies into a calm Mac reading library.
