Group conversations by sender email address (not just subject)

Feature request
1

Hi,

I’d like to request a new threading/grouping option in eM Client.

Currently, conversations are grouped by subject line (and message headers). This works well for back-and-forth threads on a single topic. However, I run a small e-commerce business with many individual customers, and I need to see all emails from/to a specific email address in one place — regardless of subject.

The request: Add an option to group messages into a conversation/thread by sender email address — so that one email address = one unified conversation view.

This would be especially useful for:

  • Small business owners managing customer communication
  • Anyone who wants a “contact history” view directly in their email client
  • Support workflows without a dedicated helpdesk tool

Why eM Client? You already have the infrastructure for conversation grouping (by subject). Extending this logic to group by email address should be technically feasible using the same mechanism — just a different grouping key.

I’ve looked at competing email platforms and clients (Gmail, Spark, Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail) and none of them offer native per-sender threading. This would be a genuine differentiator for eM Client.

Thanks for considering it!

2

Hi, eM Client already offers this functionality, and there are two ways to use it:

  1. When you open the right sidebar, you can view the contact’s details along with the full history of your conversations with that contact.
  2. You can also right-click on the contact’s name and select “Communication History”. This opens a new window displaying all messages exchanged with the contact, where you can restrict the view to emails or chat messages, filter between incoming and outgoing messages, and search the history using keywords.
1 Like
3

Thanks for pointing out the Communication History feature — I wasn’t aware of it, and it’s great that it already exists!

However, the current implementation requires manual interaction (opening sidebar or right-clicking each time), which doesn’t fit my workflow. I need to see the full communication history automatically in the main inbox view, just like conversation threading works now — but grouped by email address instead of subject.

My suggestion: Add a new display option alongside the existing “Show conversations in all views” setting:

  • Current option: “Show conversations in all views” (groups by subject)
  • New option: “Show history as conversations in all views” (groups by sender email address)

This would elevate subject-based threading to a higher level, because the conversation would contain the complete communication history with a customer, not just the part based on subject. When enabled:

  • Each email address would appear as one unified conversation thread in the main inbox
  • The thread counter would show the total number of messages exchanged with that contact
  • All emails from/to that contact would be grouped together, regardless of subject
  • I wouldn’t need to manually open sidebars or right-click — the history would be visible immediately

Use case: When a customer emails me, I instantly see our complete communication history in the main view — not scattered across multiple subject-based threads. This is essential for small businesses managing dozens of individual customers.

The infrastructure already exists (Communication History). This would simply bring it into the main conversation view as an alternative grouping mode.

Thanks again for considering this!

P.S. Please excuse any inaccurate translation of the settings option name — I’m using the client in Czech language, so the English original might be worded differently.