Disconnect or remove an email account

These two actions sit next to each other and are not interchangeable. One is a pause you can undo; the other permanently deletes the account and possibly your mail history.

Read this before choosing, because only one of them is reversible.

Who this is for

Anyone cleaning up a mailbox they no longer use, and admins removing a departed colleague's account.

Before you start

• Access to the mailbox's settings.
• A clear decision about whether you want the synced history to survive.

Disconnect keeps everything; Remove does not
Disconnect pauses syncing and clears the stored access token, but keeps the account and every message already synced — and you can reconnect later. Remove destroys the account. When removing you choose whether to keep the mail history or delete everything, and the delete-everything path asks you to type the address to confirm. That confirmation exists because there is no undo.

Choose and do it

1. Decide which one you actually want
   If the mailbox might come back, or you want the history to stay on your records, disconnect. Only remove when you genuinely want the account gone.
2. Disconnect to pause
   Disconnecting stops syncing and clears the stored credentials. Your synced mail stays exactly where it is, on the records it is attached to.
3. Reconnect when you need it
   A disconnected account can be reconnected. That is the whole reason to prefer it when you are unsure.
4. Remove, keeping history, to delete the account only
   This destroys the account row but leaves the messages that were already synced, so the correspondence stays on your contacts and deals.
5. Remove and delete everything for a full wipe
   This purges the messages and activities as well as the account. It runs in the background and shows a removing state while it works, and it asks you to type the address first because it cannot be undone.
6. Check the records you cared about
   If you removed with history kept, spot-check a contact to confirm the correspondence is still there.

Disconnect versus remove

What you get

• A reversible pause when you are not sure — history intact, reconnectable.
• A genuine delete when you need one, rather than an account that can never be cleared.
• An explicit choice about whether mail history survives the removal.
• A typed confirmation guarding the one action that cannot be undone.

Frequently asked questions

Which one should I use if a colleague has left?

It depends on whether you want their correspondence to stay on your customer records. Disconnect keeps everything and stops syncing. Remove with history kept deletes the account but leaves the mail on the records.

Can I undo a removal?

No. That is why the delete-everything path asks you to type the address. If there is any doubt, disconnect instead.

Does disconnecting delete my synced mail?

No. Disconnect keeps the account and all the mail already synced. It stops future syncing and clears the stored credentials.

Why does removal with a full wipe take a while?

It purges messages and activities before destroying the account, which runs in the background. You will see a removing state while it works.