If you manage your executive’s inbox through Gmail delegation, nothing about your day-to-day workflow needs to change when they move to Superhuman Mail. Here’s what syncs, what doesn’t, and how to set yourself up for a smooth handoff.
Before you start
Gmail delegation is a native Google feature that lets one Gmail account grant another user full access to read, send, and organize mail on its behalf.
Delegation is set up by your exec (the account owner), not by you. If it isn’t in place yet, your exec can follow Google’s instructions.
⚠️ Note: Your delegate access only works inside Gmail itself. Superhuman Mail doesn’t currently support signing into a delegated mailbox. Your exec connects their own account directly to Superhuman Mail instead.
A couple of things worth confirming with your executive or IT admin before you get started:
- Same organization required: On Google Workspace, you can only be delegated access to accounts within the same organization. Delegation across separate domains or companies is not supported.
- An admin may need to turn it on first: Some Workspace organizations have delegation turned off by default. If your exec can’t add you as a delegate, ask your IT admin to enable “Let users delegate access to their mailbox to other users in the domain” in the Admin console.
- Up to 25 delegates per account: This is Google’s limit, not Superhuman Mail’s, and it’s rarely a constraint for a single exec-EA pair.
- It can take up to 24 hours for a new delegate invitation to activate.
- Make sure smart features are enabled in your exec's Gmail settings so that Important and Other work properly.
How Gmail and Superhuman Mail work together
Superhuman Mail
Superhuman Mail is an AI-native email app that helps your exec get through their inbox faster — with Auto Labels and Split Inboxes to clear out the clutter, and AI-drafted replies so fewer messages wait on them. This runs on the same Gmail account you already have delegate access to.
The key thing to remember: Superhuman Mail is an email client, not a separate inbox. You keep working in Gmail. Your exec works in Superhuman Mail. You’re both looking at the same underlying inbox, just through different windows.
What syncs between Gmail and Superhuman Mail
Because you’re both working from the same inbox, most of what happens in Gmail shows up for your exec, and vice versa:
- Emails: every message you send or receive.
- Drafts: write or edit a draft in Gmail, and it appears in Superhuman Mail, ready for your exec to review and send (and vice versa). This includes replies that Superhuman’s AI drafts automatically on your exec’s behalf.
- Labels: any label you apply in Gmail carries over to Superhuman Mail. Labels applied to drafts (like "Needs Review" or "Send Today") sync in both directions, so a label your exec applies back in Superhuman shows up in your Gmail too.
- Mark Done: Superhuman Mail’s term for archiving a message once you’re finished with it.
- Stars
- Read/unread
- Trash
What doesn’t sync between Gmail and Superhuman Mail
A few features exist only inside Superhuman Mail and won’t appear anywhere in Gmail:
- Split Inbox: the sections your exec uses to organize their Superhuman Mail Inbox; you won’t see them as folders or labels in Gmail.
- Important/Other: Superhuman Mail’s own classification of what’s important.
- Send Later: while a message is scheduled to send in Superhuman, it won’t temporarily appear as a draft in Gmail.
- Read Statuses: Superhuman’s open-tracking only covers mail sent from Superhuman.
- Snippets: Superhuman’s template feature.
- Reminders and Auto Reminders
- Team Comments & Shared Conversations
Nothing here is broken — it's just how the two tools divide responsibilities. Gmail handles the mailbox. Superhuman Mail adds a layer of AI and organization on top for your exec.
⚠️ Note: Gmail’s Important marker (the yellow arrow next to a message) is a separate system from Superhuman Mail’s Important/Other Split Inbox, and the two don’t always line up. By default, Superhuman Mail’s Important Split Inbox is based on Gmail’s Primary category, not Gmail’s Important marker. So a message Gmail marks Important could still land in Other in Superhuman, and vice versa. Learn how to move conversations between Important/Other.
Recommendations for a smooth handoff
Turn your Gmail Labels into Split Inboxes
Since Split Inboxes can filter by Gmail label, ask your exec to set up a matching Split Inbox for each label you already use to sort their email. If you label something “To Review,” your exec can create a To Review Split Inbox, so anything you flag surfaces in that tab automatically.
To set one up, your exec can open an email with the label they want to use, hit Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) → New Split Inbox, and select New Split Inbox with Label: To Review.
Agree on a shared labeling convention
Keep your label list small and consistent — something like To Review, Awaiting Reply, FYI, and Scheduling. A simple, predictable set of labels is what makes the Gmail-To-Superhuman Mail handoff reliable over time.
Use drafts as your handoff tool
Since drafts and their labels sync both ways, you can draft replies in Gmail and use a label to signal where things stand. They’ll see the same label in Superhuman Mail, and if they relabel or edit the draft, it syncs right back to your Gmail view.
Coordinate on what doesn’t sync
Stay in sync with each other
FAQs
If I archive or delete an email, will my exec lose it?
I don’t see Split Inboxes in Gmail.
My exec says they can’t see a draft I just wrote.
Can I use my Gmail delegate access to log in to Superhuman Mail myself?
Not currently. Superhuman Mail doesn’t support signing into a delegated inbox directly, so you’ll keep working in Gmail as you do today. Everything you do still flows into your exec’s Superhuman Mail view. If they choose to, your exec can give you their login information to sign in to Superhuman Mail.