What is an Email Thread? Definition, Using Threads, & More

An email thread is an email message that contains all replies to an email conversation. Email threads list responses to the original message in chronological order, making it easy to follow conversations over email. Apps like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, and Apple Mail offer the option to use email threading to keep your inbox organized. If you don't like reading email as threads, you can disable the feature to restore individual email messages to your inbox. This wikiHow article will teach you how email threads work and show you how to enable threading (also called Conversation View) in the most popular email apps on your computer, phone, and tablet.

Things You Should Know

Email threads group all replies to an original message in a single email. When you use "Conversation View" in your email app, you'll view email as threads.
In an email thread, replies are organized in the order in which they were sent.
You can change settings in your email app to show threads instead of individual messages.

Section 1 of 7:

What is an email thread?

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An email thread lists the original message and all subsequent replies in a single, easy-to-read format. If you're using Gmail, messages are threaded by default—this means you can click a single message in your inbox and see the original message, as well as all follow-up messages in order. In most cases, the original message will appear at the bottom of the email thread, and the latest response will appear at the top.
- Email threads can be convenient for keeping track of email conversations, especially when an email message is sent to multiple people. When somebody hits Reply All, their response will be added to the thread.
- If your email app doesn't have threading enabled, each reply to a message will appear in your inbox as an individual message. This can lead to a clogged inbox if you maintain a lot of conversations via email.
- For longer email threads, you might see your reply, the email before it, and a Show quoted text link that hides the rest of the conversation. Click the link to view the earlier responses.
- A threaded email will commonly have a number, (e.g., (5)) after the sender's name to show how many emails are in that thread. An unthreaded email, however, will not have that number marker because all the messages are listed separately.

Section 2 of 7:

Pros and Cons

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1
Pros.
- Easily view conversations in one message. When people email back and forth about something, it's easy to lose an email or two in a cluttered inbox. You can check an email thread to view the entire conversation from start to finish in a single message.
- Keep your inbox tidy. An inbox with lots of messages can be overwhelming. Email threads combine replies to the same original message, making it so you'll see conversations in your inbox rather than every individual message. If three people reply to an email thread, you'll only see one conversation (with the number of replies) in your inbox instead of 3 separate email messages.
- Quick access to conversation details. For example, let's say you've been going back and forth over email with your child's teacher, and the teacher gave you details about the upcoming field trip in one of her replies. If you forgot the field trip details, you can easily click the email thread and find what you need.
- Keeps groups informed. Say you're working on a group project and communicating about the details over email. Having a group email thread ensures that everyone in the group has access to entire chronological conversation and can refer back when needed.
2
Cons.
- Unrelated messages. While the original message may have focused on a single subject, email threads can veer off course—especially group email threads.
- Some email clients don't offer threaded conversations. The most popular clients like Apple, Gmail, and Outlook provide this feature, but others may not. If you use an email client that does not support threaded messages, you'll see every reply to that original email as a new email in your inbox.
- Can get too long. If you're working on a long project, you can accrue tons of emails, but not each response in the email will be pertinent to the project. Someone else tagged in the conversation who hasn't been keeping up will have to spend extra time scrolling through the threaded messages to catch up.

Section 3 of 7:

Use Email Threads in Gmail

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1
Open Gmail. Email threads are enabled by default in Gmail, but you can toggle them on or off as needed.
- You can enable or disable email threads in Gmail on your computer, Android, iPhone, or iPad.
2
Go to Settings. In the mobile app, tap the three-line menu and tap Settings. In a web browser, click the gear icon, then click See all Settings.
- If you have multiple Gmail accounts, select the one that you want to edit (mobile only).
3
Enable or disable Conversation View. If you want your emails to be threaded, set "Conversation view" to On. To switch to individual email messages, disable "Conversation view."
- You may need to select Inbox customizations on iPhone & iPad if you don't see this option.^{[1]
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Section 4 of 7:

Use Email Threads in Outlook

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Open the Outlook mobile app or visit https://www.outlook.com. You can use the Outlook mobile app for Android, iPhone, or iPad, or sign in to your Outlook.com email at https://www.outlook.com.
On the mobile app, tap the profile icon in the top left corner, then tap the gear icon. For a web browser, click the gear icon, then click View all Outlook settings.
Either of these options will group threaded messages together. You can then choose whether to show the newest messages on the top or at the bottom.

Section 5 of 7:

Use Email Threads in Yahoo

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You can use an Android, iPhone, iPad, or computer to turn on email threads in Yahoo Mail.
On the mobile app, tap the profile icon in the top left corner, then tap Settings. For a web browser, click the gear icon at the top-right, then click More Settings.
You can skip this step in the Yahoo Mail mobile app.
Either of these options will group threaded messages together.

Section 6 of 7:

Use Email Threads in Apple Mail (Mac)

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You'll see View at the top of the screen while the Mail app is open.
2
Select Organize by Conversation. This is in the middle of the menu. Once enabled, you'll see a checkmark next to the option. If this option is enabled, you'll see threaded messages together.^{[2]
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- You can disable email threading by selecting Organize by Conversation again to remove the checkmark.

Section 7 of 7:

Use Email Threads in Apple Mail (iPhone & iPad)

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Tap the app icon that looks like some gears on a light grey background.
You'll see this next to an icon of a white envelope on a light blue background.
3
Enable "Organize by Thread"
. When this feature is enabled, your messages will appear as threaded conversations in your inbox.
- You can enable "Collapse Read Messages" to automatically hide messages in threads that you've already read.
- By default, the most recent message will appear at the bottom of each thread. If you want the latest messages to appear at the top, you can enable "Most Recent Message on Top."
- Enable "Complete Threads" as well—this ensures that you'll see all replies to threads even if those replies are in a folder other than your inbox.

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Tips

Keep threaded emails related. You don't want a bunch of emails grouped together that have nothing to do with each other! If you have an off-topic remark, create a new email instead.

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Reply to email threads only if you need responses from multiple people. Keep in mind that by using "Reply All" on an email thread asking a design question will also be seen, and potentially answered, by employees in auditing, not just your supervisor. To avoid spamming the thread just to ask one person a question, hit Reply instead of Reply All.

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Be professional. Because email threads sometimes have a larger audience than smaller conversations, don't make inappropriate comments or jests. Proofread your email messages before sending them.

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