Separate Email Clients (Work/Personal?)

[Bmosbacker]

The problems I’m seeking to solve are, in no particular order:

• Speeding up search and producing fewer returns when searching.
• Avoiding the problem of accidentally sending a professional work email from a personal account and vice versa.
• Reducing the size of my Mail app storage footprint.
• Ensuring that confidential personal and work emails do not become accidentally intermingled.
• Improving focus when working.

[nationalinterest]

I moved from a single email client (Apple Mail) for work (Microsoft 365) and personal (Gmail) to two separate ones.

While I can use focus modes in Apple Mail, I find a clearer separation helpful in keeping my work/life balance intact, with no overhead. I can pop into Gmail on my day off without being dragged into work issues!

I use Apple Mail for Microsoft 365 (I really dislike Outlook mail, and I benefit from some of the integrations with MacOS). For Gmail I’ve created a web app from Safari (“Add to Dock”) and it works well. On my iPhone I use the Gmail app.

@Bmosbacker

• Speeding up search and producing fewer returns when searching.
• Avoiding the problem of accidentally sending a professional work email from a personal account and vice versa.
• Reducing the size of my Mail app storage footprint.
• Ensuring that confidential personal and work emails do not become accidentally intermingled.
• Improving focus when working.

All of the above are good reasons for the split - especially (for me) search and focus.

[rdkeir]

Separating work from personal for the win!

I remember coming back from a wonderful Sunday with a friend, seeing them open their email, and watching them instantly stress out because they’d gotten a work email that they could do nothing about until Monday.

“Never cross the streams” – Ghostbusters

[Bmosbacker]

@nationalinterest

For Gmail I’ve created a web app from Safari

Good idea, I think I’ll do the same.

[rob]

Currently (on Windows PC):

• Company email in Outlook
• Personal email in Fastmail web app (PWA)

Previously (on MacBook Pro):

• Company email in Outlook
• Personal email in Fastmate

[waylan]

@Bmosbacker

I assume that this means you get email notifications unless you selectively turn them off based on focus mode, correct? I ask because I have all email notifications turned off, so I’m not sure this approach would affect me.

True, but it also means that the unread count is hidden within the Mail app for silenced accounts. I can still access the account if I need to, but by default it shows me nothing for that account except a moon, which reminds me to stay out as I am supposed to be focusing on other things.

What I like about having one app for all mail is that I only need to check in one place. Also, when I receive a message to the wrong inbox, because all accounts are managed by the same app, I can easily change the from account before sending a reply or forwarding a message.

@Bmosbacker

The problems I’m seeking to solve are, in no particular order:

• Speeding up search and producing fewer returns when searching.

I don’t know about speed, but I always select the specific account I want to search in before searching. I don’t see this as an issue when using a single app.

@Bmosbacker

Avoiding the problem of accidentally sending a professional work email from a personal account and vice versa.

This is a potential issue. However, I have training myself to aways confirm I am sending from the correct account. Of course, YMMV.

@Bmosbacker

Reducing the size of my Mail app storage footprint.

I don’t really have an answer for this except to point out that by using 2 apps you are actually taking up more space on your device. All of the space for messages for both accounts (which would be the same with 1 or 2 apps), plus the application files for the second app.

@Bmosbacker

Ensuring that confidential personal and work emails do not become accidentally intermingled.

Again, I don’t use the combined inbox and always select the specific account I am working in. And, by using focus modes, the silenced accounts are closed by default and do not show me message counts.

@Bmosbacker

Improving focus when working.

For me personally, focus modes help here because there is a visible reminder when I go to access a silenced account. With 2 apps, I could just open the other app at any time and there would be no reminder that I am stepping outside my current context.

[SpivR]

I don’t use GMail mobile app. On iOS, I do use multiple email account in the native Apple client, but again, for me, I mostly read and do not reply to email on mobile devices so that works for me as a compromise solution.

(I have tried the Fastmail mobile app and it was pretty good, but found it was simpler to use the native Apple mail iOS app.)

[WayneG]

@pantulis

While Gmail in the web is superb, the mobile companion app is very limited, specially for assigning labels to mails.

I didn’t start using the mobile Gmail app full time until I moved from Google’s (free) Legacy G Suite to a Business account. Then, because I was paying for my account I started using Tasks instead of Reminders and eventually all the Google Workspace apps.

I like the instant email notifications, but the feature I use most is “Add to Tasks”. And now that Gemini is integrated into the app I’ve been playing with that. But I seriously doubt I’ll ever need the translate feature. It’s not pretty but it works well for me.

[Bmosbacker]

Thanks for the thoughtful and thorough reply–it is quite helpful and much appreciated, thanks!

[johnlaudun]

@Bmosbacker

If I delete the work account from Mail, does that delete all of the work related emails? That would be my preference

Yes, BUT, if I recall correctly, you’re a Devonthink user. Create a database for all your email and let Devonthink archive it all for you. Then you can delete the work email account.

[Bmosbacker]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried that, but after almost 24 hours, it was still only a third way of downloading to DEVONthink so I gave up.

[WayneG]

If you are using the Apple Mail app you can easily export your mail to an MBOX file(s). Then reimport it to most email clients, etc. later.

Import or export mailboxes in Mail on Mac

It been my experience that it will finish faster if you export the file to a separate drive.

[Bmosbacker]

Thanks, I’ll give that a try.

[terryportis]

Like many here, I use Outlook for work email. I use Spark Mail for three personal email accounts. I use one calendar (work) and mark private anything I don’t want people to see (doctor’s appt, etc).