The Screener

The Screener is SingleSign Mail's flagship feature, and the reason your inbox stays calm: mail from anyone who has never written to you before waits in the Screener, not your inbox.

Think of it as a waiting room. First-time senders knock; you decide who gets in. You make that decision once per sender, and SingleSign Mail remembers it forever.

How it works

When a message arrives from someone who has never emailed you before:

The message goes to the Screener, a separate area outside your inbox.
You'll see the sender and their message there whenever you visit the Screener — no notification pressure, no unread badge on your inbox.
You choose what happens to that sender, once:

Approve

All of their mail moves to your inbox, including the message that was waiting.
Future mail from them goes straight to your inbox — they never pass through the Screener again.

Screen Out

Their mail moves to a silent Screened Out area — out of sight, but not deleted right away.
They are never notified. From their side, nothing happens; the message simply doesn't get a reply.
Screened-out mail is cleaned up automatically after 90 days. If you change your mind before then, you can still find it and approve the sender.

Block

Their mail is discarded. Future messages from them are discarded too.
Like screening out, blocking is silent — the sender is never told.

Who skips the Screener

Not everyone has to knock:

People you've written to are approved automatically. If you email someone first, their replies come straight to your inbox — you'll never have to approve someone you contacted yourself.
Messages from SingleSign itself (like sign-in codes and account notices) are always delivered.

Changing your mind

Every sender you've decided on is listed in Settings → Screener. Changing a decision there re-buckets their mail — approve a screened-out sender and their messages move to your inbox; screen out an approved one and their mail leaves it.

The Screener protects your phone too

If you've set up SingleSign Mail on your phone, the Screener still stands guard: only Screener-approved mail ever reaches your phone. Mail waiting in the Screener stays on the web until you decide.

Why this matters

Traditional email is an open door: anyone who learns your address can put something in front of you. The Screener closes that door.

This is how cold email dies. Nobody you haven't approved ever reaches your inbox — not marketers who bought a list, not recruiters doing a "quick follow-up," not phishers hoping you'll click before you think. They all wait in the Screener until you decide, and if you never decide, they never get in.

Tips

Check the Screener on your schedule. It's designed to be visited when you feel like it, not to interrupt you.
When in doubt, screen out instead of blocking. Screened-out mail sticks around for 90 days, so you can recover it if the sender turns out to be legitimate. Blocked mail is discarded.
Expecting a message from a new sender? Write to them first — that approves them automatically, and their reply lands straight in your inbox.