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Tracking Labels & Sync

Tracking labels let MailPrism organise follow-ups using Gmail's own labels, so your tracking is visible in Gmail too — not locked inside MailPrism. You choose which labels MailPrism treats as tracking labels, how each one behaves, and whether changes sync both ways.

You'll find these settings under Settings → Response Tracking.

Two modes: Basic and Advanced​

Tracking labels live inside the broader response-tracking setup, which has two modes:

ModeWho it's for
BasicZero configuration. MailPrism tracks automatically using built-in system labels based on email direction (incoming → Needs Action, your reply → Awaiting Reply). Optional AI filtering skips newsletters and notifications.
AdvancedFull control. Create your own tracking labels, link them to Gmail labels, and assign them with rules.

Switching to Basic doesn't delete your custom labels — they're paused and preserved, and come back when you switch to Advanced.

System labels​

System labels are the built-in ones for MailPrism's core states. You can't delete them, but you can link each one to a Gmail label so the state shows up in Gmail.

System stateMeaning
Needs ActionInbound emails requiring your attention.
Awaiting ReplyOutbound emails waiting for a recipient's response.
PendingLow-priority items to track without urgency.
ResolvedCompleted or closed threads.

Custom tracking labels (Advanced mode)​

In Advanced mode you can designate your own labels as tracking labels. Each one has:

SettingWhat it does
Label nameWhat it's called.
Tracking stateWhich MailPrism state the label represents — Needs Action, Awaiting Reply, Pending, or Resolved.
Gmail labelAn existing Gmail label to link to, for two-way sync (optional).
ColourA colour for the label, chosen from the palette.
Default for stateMark a label as the one MailPrism uses by default for its state.

Active vs. passive mode​

Each tracking label behaves in one of two ways:

BehaviourWhat it means
ActiveProminent — the email stays visible, with reminders and follow-up prompts. For important threads you don't want to lose.
PassiveQuiet — "fire and forget" until they reply. Hidden, no reminders, until a response lands.

On-reply action​

You also decide what happens to a tracked email when the recipient replies:

On replyResult
Needs ActionMove the thread back to Needs Action — the conversation continues.
ResolvedMark it resolved — the conversation is complete.
CustomRun your own actions: apply or remove labels, archive, star, mark read, snooze, or move to a specific state.

Bidirectional Gmail sync​

Because tracking labels map to real Gmail labels, changes flow both ways:

  • MailPrism → Gmail — when MailPrism updates a thread's state, it applies or removes the matching Gmail label. New tracking labels are created in Gmail for you.
  • Gmail → MailPrism — label a thread yourself in Gmail (or another client) and MailPrism picks it up. Run Sync from Gmail under Maintenance to import threads that already carry a tracking label.

Label exclusivity​

To avoid a thread being both "resolved" and "still tracking" at once, MailPrism enforces label exclusivity by default: a thread can't carry a Resolved label and an active tracking label in Gmail at the same time. You can turn this off in Tracking Mode.

Keeping things tidy​

The Maintenance section gives you two housekeeping tools:

  • Sync from Gmail — import emails that already have a tracking label in Gmail.
  • Cleanup stale entries — remove tracking records whose Gmail label has since been deleted, so MailPrism's lists match Gmail.

You can also choose what happens when a tracked email is trashed or deleted: auto-resolve it, notify you and then resolve, or keep tracking it.