Inbound email

---
title: Inbound email
description: Use the inbound email to receive and process incoming emails from external systems or users.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-administration/ia-inbound-email-il.html
release: australia
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Configure the Platform module, Configure, ServiceNow Otto for Setup, Get started, Administer the ServiceNow AI Platform]
---

# Inbound email

Use the inbound email to receive and process incoming emails from external systems or users.

## Accounts

\[Omitted image "ia-inbound-accounts.png"\] Alt text: Image showing inbound accounts

Use Accounts to process inbound emails from external sources and users. On selecting Accounts under Inbound email, a list of existing accounts shows up. Select **Add an account** to create a new account.

<table id="table_scf_btj_nhc"><thead><tr><th>

Field

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

Name

</td><td>

Name of the account

</td></tr><tr><td>

Type

</td><td>

States the type of account. It can either be POP3 or IMAP.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Authentication

</td><td>

States the authentication method of the account**Note:** Authentication is a mandatory field

</td></tr><tr><td>

Server

</td><td>

Remote server to which this account connects. To activate a server for an on-premises installation, enter the full address \(FQDN\) of the node \(for example, `node.customerdomain`\).**Note:** Server is a mandatory field

</td></tr><tr><td>

Username

</td><td>

Username used to create the account**Note:** Username is a mandatory field

</td></tr><tr><td>

Password

</td><td>

Password used to set up the account**Note:** Password is a mandatory field

</td></tr><tr><td>

Connection Security

</td><td>

Type of secure connection. Choose a setting:-   None: No secure protocol is used.
-   STARTTLS: Upgrades an insecure connection to a secure connection using the SSL/TLS encryption protocol, if your email server supports TLS.
-   SSL/TLS: Connect to an SSL/TLS encrypted port to secure the connection. Email is encrypted between the ServiceNow instance and your mail server.

**Warning:**

Selecting a less secure protocol like STARTTLS or None may expose your data. To better ensure the security of data in your email server, select SSL/TLS.


</td></tr><tr><td>

Port

</td><td>

Connection TCP port.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Active

</td><td>

Optional checkbox to create an active account

</td></tr><tr><td>

Enable Debug Logging

</td><td>

Option to create node logs for the raw data that is exchanged with the email server. You can review the node logs by navigating to **System Logs** &gt; **Utilities** &gt; **Node Log File Browser**.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>Select **Export** to export the accounts on to an Excel, CSV, JSON or PDF. You can then select the delivery type either through download or email.

## Properties

Manage the behavior of incoming emails with Properties.

\[Omitted image "ia-inbound-properties.png"\] Alt text: Image showing inbound properties

-   Inbound sending and delivery options: You can enable receiving emails and can also enable auto-create users from trusted domains
-   Inbound recognition and trusted domains: You can setup conditions for the following:
    -   How to detect an email reply
    -   How to identify a forwarded email
    -   Which domains should be trusted

**Note:** Select **Save** to save the recent property settings. You can also undo the most recent change by selecting **Undo**. By selecting **Undo**, the values are reverted back to the most recent saved values.

## Actions

Email actions determine how and when the system responds to service requests. On selecting Actions under Inbound email, a list of existing actions shows up. Select **Add an action** to create a new action.

\[Omitted image "image.ia-actions"\] Alt text: Image showing actions

|Field|Description|
|-----|-----------|
|Name|Name of the action|
|Target table|Select the table where the action adds or updates records.|
|Active|Optional checkbox to create an active action|
|Action type|Type of the action. Select the type of action the instance takes. Select **Record Action** to modify a record in the instance, or select **Reply Email** to have the instance send an email back to the source of the inbound email.|
|Stop processing|Optional checkbox to help prevent the system from running additional inbound email actions after this action runs.|

See [Inbound email configuration](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/r_InboundMailConfiguration.md) for more information.

**Parent Topic:**[Configure the Platform module in ServiceNow Otto for Setup](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/ia-config-platform-il.md)