How to use the Crisp Inbox for the first time
In this article, you’ll learn how to use the Crisp Inbox, the central place where all your customer conversations come together.
Whether you're a new operator or simply discovering Crisp for the first time, this guide will show you how to navigate the inbox, collaborate with your team, and use all the essential tools to reply efficiently and confidently.
Watch: How to Use the Crisp Inbox for the First Time
This video gives you a complete tour of the Crisp Inbox. In just a few minutes, you’ll learn how to send messages and files, collaborate with teammates, organize your conversations, use AI suggestions, share knowledge articles, and more.
What is the Crisp Inbox?
The Crisp Inbox is your shared workspace for all customer conversations. It centralizes messages from every channel: live chat, email, WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Messenger, and more, into a single, clean interface.
From here, you can:
- Reply to customers in real time
- Collaborate with your teammates
- Use smart tools like shortcuts, reminders, and AI
- Easily find past conversations
- View detailed customer profiles
- Keep your inbox organized and under control
Let’s walk through everything you need to know.
1. Start with your profile
Before you start replying, make sure your account is properly set up.
Upload your avatar
A friendly, professional picture helps customers feel like they’re talking to a real human. Teams who upload avatars generally see higher engagement.
Update your notification preferences
Choose how you want to be notified, desktop, mobile, email, so you stay responsive without being overwhelmed. Access your notification settings from your profile.
Understand email notifications
Fix browser notifications settings
2. Discover the Inbox basics
Most of your communication happens inside the message composer.
See what users type in real time
If the customer writes from the Crisp chatbox, you can see what they’re typing even before they hit “send”. This helps you prepare your reply and keeps the conversation smooth.
Send messages and files
Write your replies normally or use the built-in editor to format your message (bold, lists, code blocks, etc.). You can also attach files, images, or documents directly.
LiveTranslate
Automatically translate your message into your customer's language while keeping your tone natural. LiveTranslate adapts your reply instantly, no extra setup required.
These features are designed to keep the conversation fluid. That’s Crisp's DNA: not tickets but real conversations.
3. Work together inside a conversation
Great support is often teamwork. Crisp makes this seamless.
Mentions
Use @name to notify a teammate and bring them into a conversation.
How do I mention a team member?
Assignments
Assign the conversation to yourself or another teammate when someone else is better suited to reply.
How does Routing / Assign work?
Private notes
Use private notes to leave context for teammates without the customer seeing anything. This keeps communication clean and internal collaboration smooth.
How do I use private notes and mentions?
4. Manage your conversations efficiently
A clean inbox helps you stay focused and organised.
Resolve a conversation
When a request is completed, resolve it to remove it from your active queue.
Filters and views
Use built-in filters to find what matters:
- Unread
- Unresolved
- Mentions
- Longest waiting
- Most recent
- Resolved
Filters help you focus your workflow and keep the inbox tidy.
Set reminders
If you need to follow up later, set a reminder. Crisp will bring the conversation back to your inbox automatically at the right moment.
5. Use smart tools to reply faster
These features help you save time and stay consistent.
Shortcuts (!)
Shortcuts are saved replies for common questions. Inside a conversation, type ! to instantly insert a shortcut.
14 examples of canned messages
Knowledge Base (?)
Share help articles directly from the inbox. Type ? to search your knowledge base and send the correct article instantly. This improves self-serve support while saving time for your team.
How can I format Knowledge Base articles?
How can I import my Knowledge Base from a previous provider?
MagicReply (AI)
If enabled in your workspace, MagicReply gives you AI-powered suggestions based on:
- Your knowledge base
- Your past conversations
- Your internal data
- Your web content
You stay in control, review, edit, and send.
6. Know your customer
Every customer has a full profile inside Crisp.
Contact details
You can edit their:
- Name
- Phone
- Company
- Custom data
- Segments
Previous conversations
See every interaction the customer has had with your company.
Pages they visited
Track their navigation history to understand context before replying.
MagicBrowse
MagicBrowse lets you see (with their consent) what page the customer is currently viewing, extremely useful for troubleshooting or guiding them step by step.
7. Start conversations yourself
You don’t always have to wait for the customer to reach out.
From the Inbox, you can:
- Create a new conversation
- Choose the channel (email, chat, etc.)
- Reach out proactively when needed
How can I create a new conversation?
Main Inbox vs. Sub Inboxes
If your company manages multiple brands, languages, teams, or products, you may have several inboxes. You can switch between them from the sidebar.
Organize your workspace with sub-inboxes
With these tools, you're ready to deliver fast, friendly, and efficient support from day one.
Check out these helpful resources:
First Response Time: The #1 metric that shapes long waiting times
Strategies to reduce time to resolution with examples from companies around the world
Updated on: 23/11/2025
Thank you!