This article explains how to create and manage sub-inboxes to organize teams, departments, brands, and support workflows inside one Crisp workspace.

Sub-inboxes help you separate conversations into dedicated queues without splitting your support operation across multiple workspaces or tools.

Each sub-inbox can have its own name, members, access rules, and routing conditions. You can also search, reorder, and duplicate sub-inboxes as your support organization grows.

In this guide, you will learn how to:

• Understand what sub-inboxes are → see how they organize conversations inside a workspace
• Decide when to use sub-inboxes → identify the right structure for your support team
• Open the Sub-Inboxes settings → access and manage your existing queues
• Create and configure a sub-inbox → define its name, access, and routing conditions
• Control access to a sub-inbox → choose who can see and use it
• Route conversations with conditions → decide which conversations should enter it automatically
• Route conversations with Hugo AI Agent → detect customer intent and move conversations to the right sub-inbox
• Search, reorder, and duplicate sub-inboxes → manage your setup more easily
• Move an existing conversation → transfer a conversation manually
• Understand sub-inboxes and routing → choose the right feature for each need
• Follow sub-inbox best practices → keep your setup clear and maintainable

What are sub-inboxes

A sub-inbox is an additional conversation queue inside your Crisp workspace.

It behaves much like the main inbox, but it can have its own:

• Name and icon → make the inbox easy to recognize
• Access settings → control which operators can see and use it
• Routing conditions → decide which new conversations should enter it
• Priority → determine which sub-inbox should receive a conversation when several conditions overlap

Sub-inboxes help each team focus on the conversations that are relevant to them while keeping everyone inside the same Crisp workspace.

Common use cases include:

• Department separation → keep Sales, Billing, Support, and Technical conversations in separate queues
• Escalation management → move advanced or sensitive cases to a specialist team
• Customer segmentation → create dedicated inboxes for VIP customers or specific plans
• Brand or regional support → separate conversations by brand, language, or country
• Channel organization → isolate conversations from a specific channel or source
• Operational workflows → organize onboarding, partnerships, refunds, or customer success requests

If you only need to display different chatboxes across sections of your website, use a different setup. Read How can I separate my chatbox in sub-sections?.

When should you use sub-inboxes

Sub-inboxes work best when each one has a clear operational responsibility.

Separate teams or departments

Create a sub-inbox when different teams should not work from the same daily queue.

For example:

• Sales
• Customer Support
• Billing
• Technical Support
• Customer Success

Each team can focus on its own conversations without being distracted by unrelated requests.

Handle escalations

A dedicated escalation inbox helps specialists or supervisors focus on conversations that require deeper expertise or additional permissions.

For example, your main support team can move technical cases into a dedicated Technical Escalation sub-inbox.

Organize premium or strategic customers

You can route VIP customers, enterprise accounts, or specific customer segments into a dedicated queue.

This helps your team prioritize those conversations and control which operators can access them.

Separate brands, regions, or languages

Sub-inboxes can also help teams managing several brands, markets, or languages from one workspace.

For example:

• French Support
• English Support
• Brand A
• Brand B
• European Customers
• North American Customers

Build specialized workflows

You can create sub-inboxes for specific processes such as:

• Refund requests
• Product onboarding
• Partnership requests
• Account cancellations
• Security reviews
• Lead qualification

Avoid creating a new sub-inbox for every minor category. Each inbox should represent a clear team, workflow, or responsibility.

Open the Sub-Inboxes settings

To access your sub-inboxes:

1. Open Crisp
2. Go to Settings
3. Open Inbox Settings
4. Select Sub-Inboxes

From this page, you can:

• Search for an existing sub-inbox
• Add a new sub-inbox
• Open and edit its settings
• Reorder sub-inboxes with drag-and-drop
• Duplicate an existing sub-inbox
• Review the priority of your routing conditions

The position of each sub-inbox matters when several inboxes use overlapping conditions.

Create and configure a sub-inbox

From Settings → Inbox Settings → Sub-Inboxes, click Add Sub-Inbox.

Each sub-inbox now opens on its own dedicated configuration screen.

The setup is divided into three main sections:

• Details → define the name and icon
• Access → choose who can see and use the sub-inbox
• Conditions → define which conversations should enter it automatically

Configure the details

Choose a clear name and icon that help operators immediately understand the purpose of the inbox.

For example:

• 💎 VIP
• 🤝 Sales
• 🤖 Technical Support
• 🎓 Onboarding
• 💸 Refunds

Keep names short and consistent across your workspace.

Configure access

Choose whether the sub-inbox should be public or private.

If the sub-inbox is private, select the operators who should be able to see it and access its conversations.

You can use the operator search field to quickly find a teammate in larger workspaces.

Configure conditions

Add the rules that determine which new conversations should enter the sub-inbox.

Once your setup is ready, click Save Sub-Inbox.

Control access to a sub-inbox

Access settings determine which operators can see the sub-inbox and open its conversations.

Public access

Use public access when the sub-inbox should be available broadly to your support team.

This can be useful for shared operational queues such as:

• General Support
• Sales
• Customer Success
• Onboarding

Private access

Use private access when the inbox should only be visible to selected operators.

For example:

• Billing disputes
• Security requests
• VIP customers
• Management escalations
• Sensitive account issues

When private access is selected, use the operator list to choose the teammates who should have access.

Only selected operators will see the private sub-inbox in their sidebar and be able to access its conversations.

Route conversations with conditions

Conditions decide which new conversations should automatically enter a sub-inbox.

You can build conditions using information such as:

• Customer country or location
• Conversation segments
• Customer data
• Language
• Channel or source
• Other conversation or user attributes available in Crisp

Choose how conditions should match

You can choose between two matching modes:

• All Conditions Must Match → every condition must be true
• Any Condition Can Match → at least one condition must be true

For example, a French VIP inbox could require:

• Country equals France
• Conversation segment equals VIP

With All Conditions Must Match, only conversations matching both conditions enter the sub-inbox.

With Any Condition Can Match, conversations matching either condition can enter it.

You can add up to 20 conditions to a sub-inbox rule. Each condition can contain up to 20 values.

This lets you build more precise logic when routing conversations across several countries, segments, languages, or customer profiles.

Understand condition priority

A conversation should only enter one sub-inbox automatically.

When several sub-inboxes contain overlapping conditions, Crisp uses their order to determine which one has priority.

Place your most specific sub-inboxes higher in the list and broader fallback inboxes lower.

For example:

1. French VIP Customers
2. All VIP Customers
3. French Support
4. General Support

In this setup, a French VIP customer should match the most specific inbox before broader rules are considered.

For related routing features, read:

• How to route and assign conversations to operators in Crisp
• How to categorize and route conversations with Automatic Triage

Route conversations to sub-inboxes with Hugo AI Agent

Sub-inbox conditions are useful when routing can rely on structured information such as customer data, segments, country, language, or channel.

When the destination depends on what the customer is asking during the conversation, you can use Hugo Routing instead.

Hugo can understand the intent, topic, or situation described by the customer, then move the conversation to the appropriate sub-inbox.

For example, Hugo can route conversations when:

• A customer asks for a refund or payment adjustment
• A prospect requests a product demo
• A user reports a technical issue
• A customer wants to cancel or downgrade
• A request requires a specialist or dedicated support team
• The conversation needs to be escalated to a human

Create a Hugo routing rule

To route a conversation to a sub-inbox with Hugo:

1. Open Crisp
2. Go to AI Agent → Guidance → Routing
3. Click New
4. Give the routing rule a clear name
5. Describe the situation Hugo should detect
6. Select Inbox as the routing action
7. Choose the destination sub-inbox
8. Save and enable the rule

For example, a routing rule could detect:

The customer asks for a refund, disputes a payment, or requests a billing adjustment.

You can then select Inbox and route matching conversations to your Billing or Refunds sub-inbox.

When Hugo detects the described situation, the conversation is moved to the selected sub-inbox so the right team can continue handling it.

Route escalated conversations

Hugo also includes a built-in Escalation rule.

Use this rule when you want conversations requiring human assistance to be moved to a specific sub-inbox, such as:

• General Support
• Technical Escalations
• Billing
• VIP Support

For more specific situations, create separate routing rules and choose the relevant sub-inbox for each one.

Sub-inbox conditions vs Hugo Routing

These methods can work together.

For example:

1. Hugo detects that a customer is asking for a refund
2. Hugo moves the conversation to the Billing sub-inbox
3. Operator Routing assigns it to an available billing specialist

To learn how to create effective AI routing rules, read How does Hugo Routing work?.

Search, reorder, and duplicate sub-inboxes

The Sub-Inboxes settings include tools to help you manage larger setups.

Search for a sub-inbox

Use the search bar at the top of the page to quickly find a sub-inbox by name.

This is useful when your workspace contains many teams, regions, or operational queues.

Reorder sub-inboxes

Drag and drop a sub-inbox to change its position.

The order controls routing priority when several sub-inboxes can match the same conversation.

Move specific rules higher and general fallback rules lower.

Duplicate a sub-inbox

You can duplicate an existing sub-inbox when you want to reuse a similar setup.

This is useful when creating inboxes that share:

• Similar access settings
• The same operator group
• Related routing conditions
• A common structure across countries, brands, or teams

After duplicating a sub-inbox, review:

• Its name and icon
• Selected operators
• Public or private access
• Conditions and values
• Its position in the priority list

Do not leave duplicated conditions unchanged if they could conflict with the original inbox.

Move an existing conversation to another inbox

You can move an existing conversation manually when it needs to be handled by another team or workflow.

Open the conversation in the Crisp Inbox, then use the inbox routing option to select the destination sub-inbox.

Manual transfers are useful when:

• A support request becomes a technical escalation
• A sales conversation needs to move to Customer Success
• A billing issue requires a specialist
• A conversation was initially categorized incorrectly
• An existing conversation predates a new sub-inbox rule

If the conversation remains assigned to you, it can still appear in your Assigned to me view after being moved.

Sub-inboxes vs Operator Routing

Sub-inboxes and routing features solve related but different problems.

For example:

• A conversation can live in the Technical Support sub-inbox
• Operator Routing can assign it to a specific technical agent
• Automatic Triage can add a technical segment
• Hugo Routing can decide when the AI Agent should escalate it to a human

Many teams use these features together.

To learn more about assigning conversations to teammates, read How to route and assign conversations to operators in Crisp.

Best practices

A good sub-inbox setup should remain easy for operators to understand and maintain.

Give every sub-inbox a clear purpose

Each inbox should represent a clear team, customer group, or workflow.

Avoid creating several inboxes that solve nearly the same problem.

Put specific conditions first

Place inboxes with precise conditions higher in the list.

Keep broad fallback inboxes lower so they do not capture conversations before more relevant rules.

Avoid unnecessary overlaps

Overlapping conditions can make routing harder to understand.

When two inboxes match the same type of conversation, confirm which one should have priority.

Use clear names and icons

Operators should understand the purpose of an inbox without opening its configuration.

Use a consistent naming system across departments, markets, and brands.

Review private access

Make sure only the right operators can access sensitive or specialized conversations.

Update memberships when teammates change roles.

Test with new conversations

After creating or updating conditions, test your setup with new conversations that match and do not match the rule.

Verify that they enter the expected inbox.

Review duplicated inboxes

Duplicating a sub-inbox saves time, but always update its conditions, operators, name, and priority before relying on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions which were not covered in this article? Here is a collection of the most frequently asked questions on this topic.

If I am a member of a sub-inbox, can I access all conversations in it?

Yes. Operators with access to a sub-inbox can open the conversations that belong to it.

If a private sub-inbox does not include you, you cannot open its conversations and will not receive its notifications.

Who can create, manage, or delete sub-inboxes?

Only workspace owners can create, configure, duplicate, reorder, or remove sub-inboxes.

Owners can also manage access and define the conditions used to route conversations.

Does sub-inbox order affect conversation routing?

Yes. When several sub-inboxes have overlapping conditions, their position determines which inbox has priority.

Place your most specific conditions higher in the list and broader fallback conditions lower.

Can I search for a sub-inbox?

Yes. Use the search field in Settings → Inbox Settings → Sub-Inboxes to find an inbox by name.

Do existing conversations move automatically when I create a sub-inbox?

No. Sub-inbox conditions apply to new matching conversations. Existing conversations must be moved manually.

What happens if a sub-inbox is deleted?

Deleting a sub-inbox does not delete its conversations.

Its conversations are merged back into the main inbox.

Can I see every conversation from every inbox in one global view?

There is no global view that merges all inboxes into one queue.

However, conversations assigned to you can still appear in your Assigned to me view, even when they live in different sub-inboxes.

Updated on: 21/07/2026