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How can I keep my own copy of emails?

Updated
  • Updated on Sep 10, 2026
  • Published on Sep 10, 2026
  • 2 minute(s) read
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Overview

8x8 Contact Center deletes every email from the mailbox once it's processed into a case, regardless of protocol — so if you need a retained copy for compliance, backup, or any other reason, you have to set that up yourself on your own mail platform.

Because of this, how can I keep my own copy of emails?

Applies to:

  • Contact Center

  • Configuration Manager for Contact Center

  • Email

  • Email Channel

Question

How can I keep my own copy of emails?

Answer

8x8 removes each message from the mailbox once, and there is no setting that changes that. If you need a copy on your side, set it up before you enable the channel. You have three options, all of them on your mail platform.

Journaling. Microsoft 365 and Google can both capture a copy of every message as it arrives, independently of anything 8x8 does. Choose this if the requirement is a compliance one. It is the only option that is unaffected by retention windows or by how the channel behaves.

A rule that copies into another folder. Set up a rule that runs when mail arrives and places a copy in a folder outside the inbox, leaving the original where it is. 8x8 collects the original from the inbox and removes it as usual, and your copy sits untouched, because 8x8 only ever reads the inbox.

A distribution list in front of the mailbox. Point the customer-facing address at a list that delivers to both the channel mailbox and a separate archive mailbox.

Three things to get right:

  • The rule must copy, not move. If it moves the message out of the inbox, 8x8 never sees it and no case is created.

  • Never move archived mail back into the inbox. Anything in the inbox is collected and turned into a case, so returning old messages there creates duplicate cases.

  • Watch the mailbox size. An archive folder grows and never shrinks on its own. If the mailbox reaches its storage limit, your mail server stops accepting new mail and the channel has nothing to collect. Prune it on a schedule, or archive to a second mailbox instead of the same one.

Note: This works on Microsoft 365 and Outlook, where a rule can place a copy in a folder. It does not work with a Gmail label, because a label is a view of the same message rather than a second copy, so removing the message removes it from the label too. On Gmail, forward a copy to a second account instead.

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