What is the difference between a shared inbox and a personal inbox?
A shared inbox is an inbox you want multiple team members to work on collaboratively. (e.g. support@, sales@, hr@). A personal inbox is your own individual inbox to which only you will have access.

Why set up a personal inbox?
Instead of using Gmail or other email service providers for your personal work email, you can manage shared inboxes + personal inboxes in one place - Helpwise

How to set up a personal inbox?
We have shown the steps for setting up a Gmail personal inbox. The steps would be similar if you are using any other email service. 

1. Select ‘Inboxes’ from the top navigation bar and go to ‘Add inbox’
   
   

   
   

2. Click on the Personal Email card as shown in image below.
   

   
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

3. The personal inbox page opens where you need to enter the email address(personal email) & mailbox name. Click on "Next: Start Receiving Emails"
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

4. Copy the forwarding email address of your Mailbox by pressing the copy button next to it.
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

5. Login to your personal mail find the Forwarding option in the Settings. 
   For Gmail, click on the Settings gear icon at the top > "See All Settings" and then select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab (https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#settings/fwdandpop). (Outlook: https://outlook.office.com/mail/options/mail/forwarding) - Make sure you are logged into the correct account) Paste the copied forwarding address and then click on Next.
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

6. A Helpwise inbox would have been created with your personal email id. Go to Helpwise and navigate to the inbox (from the 'Inboxes' drop down in the top navigation bar). You would have received an email from your personal email id with a verification link and code (This varies from email provider to email provider).

   
   

   
   

   
   
   Click on the link to verify forwarding.
   
   
7. Go Back to Gmail and click on "Verify"
   
   
   
   

8. Choose the option of "Forward a copy of incoming email to" and  “Save Changes”. Make sure you click on this button, as only then the forward settings will be applied.
   
   
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

9. Now head back to the Helpwise inbox settings (from Manage > Inboxes in top navbar or by selecting the gear icon on the inbox) > Select ‘Test Forwarding’, you will get a message that the testing was successful

   
   

   
   

   
   

10. Scroll down to setup your outgoing settings:
    Select Gmail / Outlook if you are connecting a Gmail / Outlook inbox and connect your accounts. Do not forget to give permissions if you are connecting Gmail (refer screenshot)
    You can use Helpwise.io to send emails if you are not using Gmail / Outlook - Do make sure to setup your DNS settings in this case to ensure better deliverability and a seamless experience. You can also configure custom SMTP settings.
    
    
    
    
    You are done!