Inbound email

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated December 5, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read

    • Use the inbound email to receive and process incoming emails from external systems or users.

    Accounts

    Image showing inbound accounts

    Use Accounts to process inbound emails from external sources and users. On selecting Accounts under Inbound email, a list of existing accounts shows up. Select Add an account to create a new account.

    Field Description
    Name Name of the account
    Type States the type of account. It can either be POP3 or IMAP.
    Authentication States the authentication method of the account
    Note:
    Authentication is a mandatory field
    Server Remote server to which this account connects. To activate a server for an on-premises installation, enter the full address (FQDN) of the node (for example, node.customerdomain).
    Note:
    Server is a mandatory field
    Username Username used to create the account
    Note:
    Username is a mandatory field
    Password Password used to set up the account
    Note:
    Password is a mandatory field
    Connection Security Type of secure connection. Choose a setting:
    • None: No secure protocol is used.
    • STARTTLS: Upgrades an insecure connection to a secure connection using the SSL/TLS encryption protocol, if your email server supports TLS.
    • SSL/TLS: Connect to an SSL/TLS encrypted port to secure the connection. Email is encrypted between the ServiceNow instance and your mail server.
      Warning:
      Selecting a less secure protocol like STARTTLS or None may expose your data. To better ensure the security of data in your email server, select SSL/TLS.
    Port Connection TCP port.
    Active Optional checkbox to create an active account
    Enable Debug Logging Option to create node logs for the raw data that is exchanged with the email server. You can review the node logs by navigating to System Logs > Utilities > Node Log File Browser.

    Select Export to export the accounts on to an Excel, CSV, JSON or PDF. You can then select the delivery type either through download or email.

    Properties

    Manage the behavior of incoming emails with Properties.

    Image showing inbound properties

    • Inbound sending and delivery options: You can enable receiving emails and can also enable auto-create users from trusted domains
    • Inbound recognition and trusted domains: You can setup conditions for the following:
      • How to detect an email reply
      • How to identify a forwarded email
      • Which domains should be trusted
    Note:
    Select Save to save the recent property settings. You can also undo the most recent change by selecting Undo. By selecting Undo, the values are reverted back to the most recent saved values.

    Actions

    Email actions determine how and when the system responds to service requests. On selecting Actions under Inbound email, a list of existing actions shows up. Select Add an action to create a new action.

    Image showing actions

    Field Description
    Name Name of the action
    Target table Select the table where the action adds or updates records.
    Active Optional checkbox to create an active action
    Action type Type of the action. Select the type of action the instance takes. Select Record Action to modify a record in the instance, or select Reply Email to have the instance send an email back to the source of the inbound email.
    Stop processing Optional checkbox to help prevent the system from running additional inbound email actions after this action runs.

    See Inbound email configuration for more information.