> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email

> Forward your existing support inbox to Tied, or connect one directly — replies thread the way a normal inbox would expect.

Email is the one channel every business already has before Tied enters the picture, which makes the setup question different from every other channel here: not "how do I get an address," but "how do I point the address I already have at Tied without losing anything."

## What it takes

| Requirement | |
| - | - |
| **Plan** | All plans |
| **An existing email address** | Whatever your team already uses for support |
| **A forwarding rule** | Set at your mail provider, not at Tied |
| **Time** | Hours — mostly waiting on DNS or mailbox settings you don't control |

## Forwarding, not migrating

Tied generates a unique address for the inbox the moment you create it. You set your existing mailbox to forward incoming mail to that address — a rule your mail provider applies, not a migration of the mailbox itself. Your original address keeps working exactly as it did before; Tied simply receives a copy of what arrives.

<Tip>
  **You don't have to give up your inbox to use Tied.** Forwarding is additive. If you ever disconnect the
  channel, your mail provider keeps delivering to you exactly as it always has.
</Tip>

## Threading

A reply doesn't start a new conversation just because it lands in a new email. Tied threads an inbound reply using the email's `In-Reply-To` header, not the subject line — if it matches the reference Tied recorded when the conversation started, the reply joins that existing thread; if it doesn't (a forwarded chain, a client that drops headers), it opens as a new conversation instead.

## Sending as your own address and domain

By default, replies go out from the address you configured on the channel. If you want Tied to send from your own domain — with the DNS records that make that trustworthy — that's a separate, opt-in setup. See [Custom reply email and domain](/channels/email/custom-domain).

## No channel fee

Email carries no carrier cost and no Tied channel fee. See [Channel fees](/pricing/channel-fees).

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Custom reply email and domain" icon="at-sign" href="/channels/email/custom-domain">
    Sending as your own address, with your own domain's DNS behind it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Channel fees" icon="radio" href="/pricing/channel-fees">
    Email costs nothing to deliver on — see what does.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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