To create a shared inbox in Help Scout, go to Settings, then Inboxes, and click the blue New Inbox button. Enter an inbox name and email address, which creates an address on your Help Scout subdomain. To use your own address instead, add it, confirm the code, then forward your email in.
Help Scout address or your own?
Decide this before you click anything. When you create an inbox, Help Scout gives it an address on your Help Scout subdomain, and that address works on its own straight away. Most businesses want customers to keep writing to the address they already know, such as support@ or hello@, so they add their own address and forward mail in. Both routes start the same way.
One tip from Help Scout: don't use a personal work address as an inbox address. Use a shared one, so the inbox isn't tied to one person's mailbox.
Creating the inbox, step by step
1. Open Inboxes
Go to Settings (the gear icon), then Inboxes, and click the blue New Inbox button.
2. Name it
Enter an Inbox name and the Email address you want. This creates an address on your Help Scout subdomain.
3. Open it or customise
Choose Open Inbox, or Inbox Settings to customise further. If you're happy using the Help Scout address, you're done.
4. Add your own address
To use your own address, click the add it here link, enter your existing address and click Send Code.
5. Confirm it
Type the code from your confirmation email into Help Scout and click Confirm. This proves you own the address.
6. Forward your email
Set up forwarding at your email provider so mail to your address lands in your Help Scout inbox address. From then on, work from Help Scout only.
7. Bring the team in
Add teammates and use notes and assignment to share conversations.
Choosing how replies go out
Replies sent from Help Scout using your own address can go through your provider's SMTP, Google OAuth, Microsoft 365 Outlook OAuth or Help Scout's servers. If you use Help Scout's servers, add the DKIM records, or replies can show via helpscout.net next to your name, which looks less polished to customers.
Stop replying from the old mailbox
Help Scout Docs on how inboxes work are firm about this. Once forwarding is set up, stop replying from the original email inbox. Help Scout won't have a record of replies sent there, so the conversation ends up in bits and pieces in two places, and nobody on the team can see the full history. Tell everyone the day you switch.
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What makes it shared
- Collision Detection shows what teammates are working on, so two people don't reply to the same customer.
- Notes let you collaborate on a conversation without the customer seeing, and you can @mention teammates.
- Light users can read conversations and write notes without full support access, which suits colleagues in sales or finance.
- You can add multiple inboxes and move conversations between them.
Other channels are connected under Settings, Inboxes, your inbox, then Connect Channels. The Email channel is on all plans; other channels are available depending on your plan.
When a second inbox makes sense
Start with one inbox for your main support address. Add a second when a different kind of email needs different people, such as orders, partnerships or billing, so each team sees only what's theirs. Because you can move conversations between inboxes, a message that lands in the wrong place isn't lost: whoever spots it moves it across. Keep the number small, though. Every extra inbox is another place someone has to check, and a team of three rarely needs more than two.
How it compares with Front and plain Gmail
Front's help centre says to click the gear icon, choose Inboxes and create a new shared inbox or individual inbox, then connect channels. Help Scout's own comparison says teammates working in a Gmail or Outlook shared mailbox can't see what colleagues are working on, which its Collision Detection solves. For more options, see my lists of Help Scout alternatives and help desk software for small businesses.
My advice for switching your team over
Create the inbox, add your existing support address, confirm it and set up forwarding on the same day. Add DKIM if you'll send through Help Scout's servers. Then make one rule clear to everyone: from now on, every reply goes out from Help Scout, never the old mailbox. Bring colleagues outside support in as light users so they can leave notes without getting in the way.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a shared inbox in Help Scout?
An inbox several teammates work in together, with Collision Detection, notes and assignment.
Can I use my own email address?
Yes. Add it, confirm the code, then forward email to your Help Scout inbox address.
Can my team run more than one inbox?
Yes, and conversations can be moved between them.
Can non-support colleagues help?
Yes. Light users can read conversations and write notes.
Can I add WhatsApp or social channels?
Other channels are added under Connect Channels for the inbox, depending on your plan.
