Set up mail import.

What you need first

• A mailbox with IMAP access and its credentials.
• With Gmail and iCloud, an app password instead of your normal password. The form explains the way there in three steps as soon as it recognizes the provider from your address.
• Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 do not work. The app says: “Outlook.com” doesn’t allow an app password for IMAP — only modern sign-in (OAuth). This account can’t be connected in this version.

The steps

1. Add the account

   Open Settings › Email import. Under “Email accounts” you find “Add account”. As long as there is no account, it says “No account connected yet.”

2. Enter the connection

   The form “Connect account” asks for: “Email address”, “Display name” (optional), “Host” (for example imap.example.com), “Port”, “Username” and “Password”. For GMX, WEB.DE, T-Online, Gmail and iCloud the form fills in host and port itself once the address is entered; otherwise your provider tells you. Port 143 (STARTTLS) isn’t supported in this version.

   Tap “Connect”. Your credentials stay encrypted in this device’s keychain, and PaperPeace connects directly to your mailbox.

3. Choose the folder

   Tap the account in the list. In the “Folder” card, “Choose folder” opens the list of your mailbox’s folders. Mark what PaperPeace should watch and confirm with “Apply”. Your mailbox’s INBOX folder is always included.

4. Add a rule

   Without a rule nothing happens; the “Rules” card says: “No rules — nothing is imported.” Tap “Add rule”:

   • Sender: required. An exact address (name@company.com) or a whole domain (@company.com).
   • Instead of a sender you can turn on the switch “All senders”. Then mail from any sender is considered, including strangers who only know your address. That is why every find goes into the review list first.
   • Subject contains: optional. Left empty, every subject line counts.
   • Attachment type: “PDF only” or “PDF and images”.

   “Save” stores the rule.

5. Set exclusions (if you like)

   The “Exclusions” card takes something out again, even if a rule would fetch it: “Add exclusion”, then a “Criterion” (sender, subject or file name) and the text it “Contains”. Upper and lower case do not matter. An exclusion by file name hits only that attachment; the other attachments of the same email stay.

6. Decide whether you review first

   In the “This device” card there is the switch “Require approval before import”. It is on for a new account: new attachments go to review first instead of being imported right away. In the settings list, the row “Review attachments” shows how many are waiting and opens Intake. There you release each attachment with “Import” or throw it away with “Discard”. More on Intake on Intake.

7. Fetch

   “Fetch now” gets the mail at once. “Fetch interval” (“Every … minutes”) sets how often PaperPeace looks. On iPhone and iPad the system decides the exact moment; mail is checked at the latest when you open the app. On the Mac the app checks at the interval you set, as long as it is running.

On the Mac

On the Mac three places are different:

• Folders: You turn the folders on directly in the “Folder” list. There is no “Choose folder” and no “Apply” on the Mac.
• This device: On the Mac the card is called “On this device”. It also holds “Search older e-mails”; there is no “Historical import” card on the Mac.
• Connection: You change username, “IMAP server”, port and password in the “Connection” section and confirm with “Verify connection”. There is no “Edit connection” on the Mac.

On the Mac you remove an account with “−” below the account list.

Catch up on older emails

Normally only newly arriving emails are fetched. Open the account and, in the “Historical import” card, tap “Search older e-mails”. You choose a time range, for example “Last 3 months”, or under “Custom range” the days “From” and “To”, and tap “Search”. This account’s rules apply. Only a search runs first; nothing is downloaded until you confirm. The result names “E-mails found”, “Matching attachments” and “Data volume”. With “Import n” you load the attachments. With the switch “Send to review” they go to review first.

Several devices

Accounts and rules apply only on the device where you set them up. If you set up the same account on a second device and your email provider doesn’t remember which messages have already been imported, only one device should fetch, so that no attachment arrives twice. The app then points this out in the “This device” card (on the Mac “On this device”). You have to turn it off yourself: on the other devices, turn off “Fetch email on this device”.

If it does not work

• “Connection failed”. Check address, host, port, username and password. For Gmail and iCloud it has to be the app password.
• “Password missing — reconnect the account”. Open the account, choose “Edit connection” and enter the password again. On the Mac you enter it in the “Connection” section and confirm with “Verify connection”.
• “Paused, needs the full version”. Fetching rests without a purchase. The account stays.
• Nothing arrives. Check whether a rule fits the sender and the subject, whether an exclusion cancels it, and whether the attachments are already waiting in review (“Review attachments”).

You remove an account in the account with “Remove account”. This account’s credentials and fetch history are then deleted; documents already imported are kept. Attachments still waiting in review are deleted too; the emails themselves stay in your mailbox. What else there is to know about importing is on Bringing documents in.