Folders: Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Archive, Trash
What each of the five mail folders holds, what the counts next to them mean, how to move a conversation between them, and why you cannot create your own.
Private.Ki Mail has five folders, and they are the same on the web, on iPhone and on Android: Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Archive and Trash. You cannot add, rename or delete folders — there are no custom folders and no labels. To find mail across folders, use search instead.
What each folder holds
| Folder | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Inbox | Every message sent to you. The badge next to it is the number of unread conversations. |
| Sent | A copy of every message you sent. Stored encrypted so only you can read it — even when the message went to an external address without encryption. |
| Drafts | Messages you started and have not sent. Saved automatically; the badge is the number of drafts. Once a draft is sent it moves to Sent. |
| Archive | Conversations you want to keep but not see in Inbox or Sent. Nothing in Archive is ever deleted automatically. |
| Trash | Conversations you deleted. They stay here until you delete them permanently or empty the folder — there is no automatic clean-up. |
12341234Inbox, Sent and Drafts are decided by what a message is — received, sent or unsent. Archive and Trash are places you put a conversation. That is why restoring something from Archive or Trash always sends it back to the folder it came from: a received message goes back to Inbox, a sent one back to Sent.
Move a conversation
The row menu offers the same moves everywhere; only how you open it differs.
- Open the row menu. On the web, right-click the conversation in the list. On the phone, press and hold it.
1Archive2Move to3Move to trashWeb & desktop iPhone screenshotRight-click a conversation (long-press on the phone) for the row menu.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Right-click a conversation (long-press on the phone) for the row menu.iPhone Android screenshotRight-click a conversation (long-press on the phone) for the row menu.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Right-click a conversation (long-press on the phone) for the row menu.Android - Choose a destination: Archive, Move to trash, or Move to for the full list of folders the conversation may go to. The list only shows destinations that make sense — a conversation already in Archive is not offered Archive again.
1Archive2Trash3CancelWeb & desktop iPhone screenshotMove to lists only the folders this conversation can go to.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Move to lists only the folders this conversation can go to.iPhone Android screenshotMove to lists only the folders this conversation can go to.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Move to lists only the folders this conversation can go to.Android - The row leaves the list at once. To put it back, open the row menu in Archive or Trash and choose Restore.
You can also archive or delete a single message inside a conversation: open the message, click its ⋮ menu below the body and choose Archive message or Delete. To act on the whole conversation from the reading pane, use the ⋮ menu at the top right — Archive thread, Delete thread or Restore thread.
On a desktop browser you can also drag one or more rows onto a folder in the sidebar. See Drag emails between folders.
Open the folder list with the menu ☰ at the top left. Swipe a row left to archive it, right to move it to Trash — see Swipe actions and bulk selection. The Move to entry in the long-press menu is the way to reach the other folders. Inside a conversation, the archive and trash icons at the top of the screen act on the whole thread.
What the counts mean
Only two folders show a number. Next to Inbox it is the count of unread conversations; next to Drafts it is the number of drafts. Sent, Archive and Trash show no count. A small number inside a row (for example 2) is the number of messages in that conversation, not an unread count.
What our server sees
Cannot see
- The subject, body or attachments of anything you file — all of it is encrypted
Can see
- Which folder each conversation is in — the server needs this to list the right folder
- When a conversation was archived or moved to Trash
Common questions
Can I create my own folders or labels?
No. The five folders are fixed, and there are no labels or tags. Use stars to mark what matters and search to find mail by subject or person.
Is Archive safe for long-term storage?
Yes. Archived conversations are kept until you move or delete them, and they stay encrypted like everything else in your account.
A conversation appears in both Inbox and Sent
That is normal: a conversation you replied to has received messages (Inbox) and sent ones (Sent). Archiving or deleting the thread from either folder moves all of it.
Where is the Spam folder?
There is none. See How to avoid spam.