What MailDesk is
MailDesk is a professional email client built directly into Odoo. It lets you read, send, and organise email from one or more real mailboxes — Gmail / Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 / Outlook, and any IMAP provider — without leaving Odoo and without switching to a separate email program.
MailDesk is a professional email client built directly into Odoo. It lets you read, send, and organise email from one or more real mailboxes — Gmail / Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 / Outlook, and any IMAP provider — without leaving Odoo and without switching to a separate email program.
Available in: Basic and Pro. The unified inbox, the synchronization engine, folders, threading, the composer, drafts, tags, and partner linking are part of MailDesk Basic. MailDesk Pro adds two-way sync, the AI assistant, the mobile-adaptive interface, and the dark theme on top of the same engine. See Licensing & editions for what each edition unlocks.
What it does
With MailDesk you can:
- Connect several email accounts (Gmail, Outlook / Microsoft 365, IMAP) and work with them in one place.
- Read, reply to, forward, and compose email inside Odoo.
- Keep related messages together as conversations, so replies and forwards stay linked.
- Organise mail with folders and tags.
- Work with your email next to your Odoo business data.
Typical uses are a personal business mailbox, a shared team inbox, a support or sales address, or several accounts managed side by side in one interface.
How MailDesk sits beside Odoo's built-in mail
Odoo already has two mail-related areas. MailDesk does not replace either of them — it sits alongside them and serves a different purpose.
| Odoo Discuss / Chatter | MailDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Internal team messages, notes, and activity logs on Odoo records | Real external email with customers, partners, and suppliers |
| What it groups | Discussion on an Odoo record | Email conversations, grouped from mail headers |
| Where mail comes from | Odoo's own notifications and incoming-mail routing | Your Gmail, Outlook / Microsoft 365, or IMAP mailbox |
| Sent mail | No dedicated Sent folder | A proper Sent folder, with mail sent through your own outgoing server |
In short: use Discuss and Chatter for internal collaboration and record-level notes; use MailDesk to handle the actual email that flows in and out of your business mailboxes. MailDesk is explicitly not Odoo Chatter, not a ticketing system, and not a CRM pipeline — though it can link to those through the integration modules described below.
What you see in MailDesk
MailDesk uses a familiar three-part email layout:
- Folder sidebar (left) — Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, and any provider folders or labels you choose to sync. Unread counts update on their own.
- Message list (centre) — sender, subject, date, a short preview, and status indicators for unread, starred, and attachments.
- Message detail (right) — the full email with attachments and the Reply, Reply all, and Forward actions. The body loads when you open a message.
How it is layered: Basic, Pro, and the integration bridges
MailDesk is a family of Odoo modules rather than a single app. They build on one another:
- MailDesk Basic — the foundation: the unified inbox, the sync engine, folders, threading, the composer, drafts, tags, and partner linking. Incoming sync is one-way (your mail server into Odoo). There is no AI in Basic.
- MailDesk Pro — installs on top of Basic and adds two-way sync (read/unread, flags, move, and delete carried back to the server), the AI assistant, the mobile-adaptive interface, and the dark theme.
- Integration modules (the "bridges") — optional add-ons that connect MailDesk to other Odoo apps: CRM, Helpdesk, Sales, Calendar, Documents, Partner 360, Chatter, Automation, and the manager Cockpit. Every bridge requires Pro.
Throughout this documentation, a feature is labelled by the module that contains it — for example Available in: Pro or Available in: CRM integration. The sales edition names (Basic, Pro, Business, Ultimate) are used only on the Licensing & editions page, which maps editions to modules. Odoo enforces the install order for you, so you cannot end up with a half-installed combination.
How email reaches you
It helps to have the right mental model:
- MailDesk syncs in the background on a regular schedule (every few minutes), so new mail appears shortly after it arrives at your provider. You do not need to click "Refresh".
- This is near real-time, not instant push — short delays between arrival and appearance are normal and expected.
- Message bodies load when you open a message, and opened messages are cached so they reopen quickly.
- When you send, the email goes out immediately through your outgoing server and appears in Sent straight away; the next sync reconciles it with your provider's own copy seamlessly.
Who it is for
MailDesk fits teams that work mainly inside Odoo, users who manage several mailboxes, companies that want email and business context in one system, and setups where keeping email inside the Odoo environment matters.
Where to go next
- Ready to begin? See First setup to open MailDesk and connect your first mailbox.
- Need to choose an edition or understand what each unlocks? See Licensing & editions.
- Want the connection details for your provider? See the admin guides for Gmail, Outlook / Microsoft 365, and IMAP / SMTP.