Summary

The Alta Inbox is one of the busiest pages in the app. This guide pulls together everything in one place: the folder system, all the filters, tags (including custom tags), bulk actions, and the three ways to reply to a message.

Who this is for

Any user who lives in the Inbox — SDRs handling replies, AEs working active conversations, managers triaging team-wide responses.

Part 1: Folders

The left rail of the Inbox is organized into folders. Each folder is a server-side filter on the conversation list:

Unread — conversations with at least one unread message.
Replied — conversations you've already responded to.
Archived — conversations you've archived. Archived items don't appear in All.
Tag folders — Each custom tag you create gets its own folder below the main list (e.g. Reply Needed, Hot, Demo Scheduled).

The Inbox remembers your last selected folder across sessions via local storage.

Part 2: Filters

Above the conversation list, the Filters bar lets you slice further:

Campaign — narrow to one or more launched campaigns.
Campaign tag — group by tags applied to the parent campaign.
Rep — show conversations tied to specific reps' email clients.
Tag — message-level tag filter (different from the tag folders — this lets you stack multiple tags).
Search — free-text search across subjects and bodies.
Email origin — (when enabled) shows inbound conversations that came from non-prospects.
Outreach direction — inbound vs outbound (defaults to your current product's direction).
Date range — narrow by sent or received date.

Filters persist across sessions. If you pick a tag folder while filters include other tags, Alta automatically switches you to the All folder so your filter still makes sense.

Part 3: Tags

Tags help you organize messages beyond what folders provide.

Apply an existing tag

Open Inbox and select the message you want to tag.
Click Add Tags.
Pick a tag (e.g. Reply Needed).
Click Apply.

Create a custom tag

Open a message and click Add Tags.
Click Add New Tag.
Enter the tag name and apply it.

Custom tags become a tag folder for everyone in the workspace.

Bulk-tag conversations

Select multiple conversations using the row checkboxes, then use the Tag action in the toolbar. Useful for catching up after time off: select all of Unread, tag them Reply Needed, then work through them at your own pace.

Part 4: Bulk actions

Once you select conversations:

Bulk tag — apply or remove a tag across the selection.
Bulk archive / unarchive — clear out the queue or restore archived items. Errors show "Failed to archive" / "Failed to unarchive" toasts.
Select all — selects every loaded conversation. Clear selection resets.

Part 5: Reply modes

When you open a conversation and click Reply to Email, you have three ways to draft your response:

1. Help Me Reply

Katie generates a suggested reply based on the conversation history and your campaign's tone. Review, tweak, and send — fastest path for typical replies.

2. Use Next Message

Sends the next step from the campaign sequence as your reply. Useful when the prospect didn't answer the question but you want to continue the cadence.

3. Write Your Own Reply

A blank editor — write the reply manually. Use it for unusual replies or hand-crafted messages.

In all three modes you can review, edit, and click Send Now to fire the reply. (See How to Reply to a Message from Alta's Inbox for screenshots.)

Tips and common pitfalls

Use folders for the day, filters for the search. Pick Unread in the morning, layer in a date or campaign filter only when you're hunting for a specific thread.
Custom tags scale — but only if you name them consistently. Pick a small set (e.g. Reply Needed, Hot, Cold, Followup) and resist proliferation.
Bulk archive after a successful campaign. When a campaign wraps, bulk-archive its Replied conversations so your active Inbox stays clean.
Switching between tag folders and tag filters. Selecting a tag folder filters to only that tag and hides the tag filter — switch back to All if you want to combine tags.
Help Me Reply isn't a one-click send. Always review Katie's draft before clicking Send Now — it's a draft, not a decision.
Use Next Message sparingly. Sending the next step as a reply ignores what the prospect actually said. Use it when their reply is non-substantive (e.g. "remove me from the list" should never get Next Message).
Inbox state persists. Filters and last folder are saved in your browser — so opening Inbox in incognito or a different machine starts fresh.

Mastering the Alta Inbox: Folders, Filters, Tags, and Reply Modes