Reading, replying to, and forwarding email

Read a message in Email → Inbox, choose who should receive your response, and send a reply or forward with the right files attached. This guide covers everyday conversations in Cedros, including connected Google Workspace mail and Cedros-hosted mailboxes.

You need access to the mailbox and permission to send from the intended address. Being able to read a shared mailbox does not automatically mean you can send from it. If email is not connected yet, start with Choosing Cedros email or Google Workspace.

Open and read the right message

1. Open Email → Inbox. If a mailbox selector is available, choose the personal or shared mailbox you need.
2. Open the message from the list. Check its subject, sender's full address, date, and the mailbox it was delivered to before acting on it.
3. Read the complete message, including any sender or spam warning. A familiar display name is not enough to confirm who sent it.
4. If Earlier in this conversation appears, expand it and select a message to read its full contents and attachments. Return to the message you intend to answer before choosing a reply action.
5. Check any Replied, Forwarded, Done, or teammate status before answering a shared conversation. Coordinate with someone who has already claimed it to avoid sending duplicate responses.

The conversation list shows related messages available in Cedros; it is not proof that every message from the old provider or another mailbox is present. If you cannot find the message, start with Finding and organizing messages for folders and filters, then Why aren’t my emails arriving? for synchronization and delivery.

Seen by describes teammates who opened the message in Cedros. It does not tell you whether an outside recipient read your reply. Likewise, Claimed by is a coordination signal; it does not prevent another teammate from replying. Use Working with shared mailboxes for claims, team status, and handovers.

Some externally hosted images are blocked in received email, so a message may look different from the sender's original layout. Read the available text and attachments. Missing images alone do not mean the message failed to arrive.

Choose Reply, Reply all, or Forward

The actions appear beneath the message:

• Reply starts a response addressed to the displayed sender. Check To before sending, especially if the message asks you to respond somewhere else.
• Reply all starts with the sender in To and other available original To/Cc recipients in Cc, excluding your recognized mailbox addresses and duplicates. Review the entire list.
• Forward starts a new message with an empty recipient list and the selected message quoted below your introduction. You choose who receives it.

Reply all uses recipient information available on the message. It cannot recover hidden Bcc recipients or infer everyone who should be included. Add or remove addresses deliberately rather than assuming the suggested list is complete.

For example, if a customer emails your support mailbox and copies a colleague, Reply addresses the customer; Reply all also includes that colleague. Use Forward when you want to share the selected message with someone else instead.

Messages in Sent offer Forward. To answer a customer, open the incoming message you intend to respond to.

Choose the action before writing. Switching between Reply and Reply all carries your typed text but recalculates recipients. Switching to or from Forward starts from the selected message instead of carrying your unfinished answer. Save any wording you need before switching, and recheck recipients, sender, and attachments afterward.

Write and send a reply

1. Select Reply or Reply all below the incoming message. A reply box may already be open.
2. Check the From, To, and Subject summary. Select Edit to reveal the address fields and see every recipient, including any hidden behind a count such as +2.
3. Review To and Cc. Use Cc or Bcc to reveal those fields if needed. If Change appears beside From, use it to choose an available sending address. For shared work, confirm the response will leave from the business mailbox you intend.
4. Write your answer. Read and edit any prefilled text or AI-generated suggestion, including names, commitments, dates, and the signature. A suggested reply is a draft; opening it does not send it.
5. Select Attach if you need to include files, then check the attachment list. Original incoming attachments are not automatically added to a reply or reply-all.
6. Review the complete message and select Send reply or Send reply all. Read the resulting status. If validation identifies a missing or invalid field, correct it before trying again.

Check From again if you changed mailboxes or reopened a saved draft. If the saved sender is unavailable, choose an available sender before sending; changing the recipient does not fix that warning.

If Cedros cannot generate an AI suggestion, you can write the answer yourself. The failure message does not mean anything was sent. Review the final text even when you use Ask AI to help with wording.

If the action says Schedule reply or Schedule reply all, a send time has been set. Review or clear that schedule if you meant to send now. A scheduled confirmation means the message is waiting for its send time. Follow Writing and scheduling an email to review, edit, or cancel queued mail.

Forward a message

Forwarding shares the selected message with new recipients. Review the quoted material and files for information those recipients should not receive.

1. Open the message you want to share and select Forward.
2. Enter the destination in To. Check From, reveal Cc or Bcc if needed, and review the subject, which normally starts with Fwd:.
3. Replace the introductory text with your own explanation. Read the quoted sender, date, subject, recipient, and message text below it. Remove information that should not be shared.
4. Inspect the actual attachment list. Cedros includes available original files that fit the sending limit and warns about files it cannot carry. Resolve that warning before sending if the recipient needs those files.
5. Select Send forward and check for Forward sent. If the button says Schedule forward, review the scheduled time instead.

A forward quotes the selected message's available text. It does not automatically assemble every message in the conversation or preserve every detail of the original HTML layout. If the selected message already contains earlier quoted correspondence, that text may be included too; read the whole draft.

A filename mentioned in the original message or quoted text is not proof that the file is attached. Check the files shown beneath your draft. To share an attachment from an earlier message, open that message and obtain the correct file first.

Download and attach files

Incoming attachments appear as filename links below the message. Select a filename to download it. For a potentially unsafe file type, Cedros shows Download this file?; continue with Download file only if you trust the source and expected that file.

In a reply or forward, select Attach and choose the files. Wait for them to appear in the attachment list, then check each filename and size. Use the removal control beside a file to leave it out. Removing a file from your draft does not delete the original incoming attachment.

The composer shows the total attached size and its allowance. Limits depend on the sending provider, and a recipient's service may impose a lower limit. If adding a file fails, read the error and confirm which files are actually listed before sending.

If a forward says a file isn't being forwarded, download it from the original message and attach it yourself where possible. If the content has not loaded yet, allow the message to finish loading and check again. Downloading and reattaching cannot overcome the total-size limit; remove unnecessary files or use an appropriate sharing method instead.

Ordinary saved drafts do not retain attachments. Keep the original files, reattach them after reopening a draft, and recheck the list after switching reply modes or before sending.

Confirm what happened after sending

• Undo send is counting down: select Undo send if you need to stop the pending send. Keep the page open until the countdown finishes or you cancel it. Undo is available only during that delay; it is not a recall of mail already sent.
• Reply sent., Reply all sent., or Forward sent.: Cedros reports that the send request succeeded. Check Sent for the intended sender, recipients, subject, and files. This does not guarantee placement in the recipient's inbox.
• Scheduled confirmation: the message is queued for a future time, not delivered now.
• Error or uncertain result: read the error and check Sent and the current message status before submitting again. Avoid sending a duplicate while the first result is uncertain.

For an important new mailbox or sending setup, send a small test to an outside account you control, confirm the message and attachments arrive, then reply back. This verifies both directions without relying solely on a success label.

If sending fails, follow Why can I receive email but not send it?. If the recipient finds the message in Junk, use Why are my emails going to spam?.

Resolve common problems

The wrong people appear on the reply. Select Edit and inspect all To, Cc, and Bcc fields. Reply all can only use the recipients available to Cedros. Check the list again after switching modes.

The sending address is wrong or unavailable. Use Edit, then Change beside From where available. If the required mailbox is absent, ask the administrator to check its status and your sending access. See Creating personal and shared email addresses.

An attachment is missing. Check the draft's attachment list, any forwarding warning, and the total size. Replies start without original attachments. A reference to a file in the body does not attach it.

The draft did not save. Keep your text available, read the save error, and use Retry where offered. Do not leave the page assuming a failed save retained your work.

A Google mailbox looks different in Gmail. Check the connection and synchronization status. Some mailbox changes need Gmail write access; use Reconnecting Google Workspace when syncing stops if Cedros reports that requirement.

If you need help, share the mailbox, action attempted, approximate time, exact error, and whether Cedros showed a sent, scheduled, or failed result. Keep passwords and private message contents out of the report. See Getting help and reporting a problem.