Connecting Mailboxes to Bitrix24 CRM
A manager communicates with clients in Gmail, the correspondence history exists separately from the CRM. When an employee leaves, all correspondence leaves with them. Connecting mailboxes to the CRM solves this problem.
Mailbox Connection Types in Bitrix24
Bitrix24 supports three options:
Personal employee mailbox — each manager connects their own work email. Emails are visible only to them and the CRM administrator. Configured in the employee profile or in CRM → Mail.
Shared mailbox — one mailbox for a group or department (e.g., [email protected]). Emails are visible to everyone who has access to this mailbox. Incoming emails automatically create leads. Configured by an administrator.
Mailbox for automated replies — used for email marketing and automated notifications, not for live correspondence.
Step-by-Step Personal Mailbox Connection
- Go to
CRM → Mail → Connect Mail - Select provider: Google, Microsoft, Yandex, or "Other" (IMAP)
- For Google/Microsoft — authorize via OAuth, grant access
- For Yandex — enable IMAP in Yandex mail settings and create an app password
- For corporate IMAP — enter server, port, login, password
After connecting, Bitrix24 scans the Inbox for the past 30 days and creates CRM activities for emails whose addresses are in the database.
Behavior with Unknown Senders
When an email arrives from an address not in the CRM — Bitrix24 offers three behavior options (configurable per mailbox):
- Ignore — the email does not enter the CRM
- Create lead — a lead is automatically created with the sender's data
- Create contact — a contact is created (without a deal)
The "Create lead" option is standard for incoming applications. For managers' personal mailboxes it's better to use "Ignore" or "Create contact" — otherwise off-target emails clutter the CRM.
Linking Emails to Existing Deals
If a contact already exists in the CRM and has an open deal — an incoming email is attached to that deal in the timeline. Matching is done by the contact's email address.
Problem: a client has multiple email addresses, and the email came from one not recorded in the CRM. Solution: add all the client's email addresses to the contact card — Bitrix24 searches across all of them.
Sent Mail Synchronization
By default only the Inbox folder is synchronized. To record outgoing emails sent from the mail client (not from Bitrix24) — enable "Sent" synchronization: in the mailbox settings CRM → Mail → [Mailbox] → Synchronize Sent.
This increases the load on IMAP and the number of requests — keep this in mind when connecting a large number of mailboxes.
Setup Timeframes
Connecting one mailbox — 30–60 minutes, including configuring OAuth or an app password with the provider and verifying that emails are correctly linked to CRM entities. Mass connection for a team of 10+ — 2–4 hours.