Issue -Inbox Clears

[Kranthi Rohit]

I’ve been using the inbox feature in SOW  to manage my workload, and I noticed that at some point in the middle of the day, my inbox was automatically cleared and reset. After checking through some community discussions, it seems that this might be an Out-Of-The-Box (OOTB) feature, but I wasn’t able to find specific details about it.

Could anyone clarify if there is a set interval for when this automatic clearance happens? Additionally, is there a way to check or configure this behavior?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

[ChallaR]

Hi @Kranthi Rohit ,

serviceNow uses a mailbox model for handling inbound emails:

• All incoming emails are first placed in the Inbox mailbox.
• Once processed by Inbound Email Actions, they are moved to:
  • Received (if processed)
  • Junk (if ignored)

This means the Inbox view resets once emails are processed. This is expected behavior and not a bug.

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 Default Polling Interval

ServiceNow polls the email server every 2 minutes by default using a scheduled job called POP Reader. This job:

• Downloads new emails
• Triggers inbound email actions
• Clears the inbox once emails are processed

This interval is configurable via system properties.

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How to Check or Configure This Behavior

Check the POP Reader Job

• Navigate to: System Scheduler > Scheduled Jobs
• Look for: POP Reader
• You can:
  • View its run interval
  • Check for errors
  • Adjust its frequency

Email Retention Settings

ServiceNow also has Email Retention plugins that archive or destroy old emails:

• Archive emails over 1 year old
• Destroy archived emails after another year
• These rules are active by default on new instances

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Want a More Inbox-Like Experience?

You can customize ServiceNow to behave more like an email inbox using:

• Custom fields like New Email and Last Email Received
• Inbound Email Rules or Flow Designer to flag new messages
• List sorting and notifications to mimic unread indicators

🔗 Guide to building a custom inbox experience

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.

Thanks,

Rithika.ch

[kaushal_snow]

@Kranthi Rohit ,

while checking servicenow docs, I couldn’t find documentation of an automatic, timed inbox clearance in SOW that resets the inbox mid day, so it’s likely your instance has a custom process  that marks work items as accessed or clears the card_accessed flag.......card_accessed field on awa_work_item is what governs whether an item shows up in the Inbox, when it’s set to true, the card is considered accessed / cleared and disappears from the inbox....

Please check whether any custom business rule, script, or scheduled job is currently doing that in your instance,  it may be accidentally or intentionally clearing inbox items mid day....Also verify if there’s any config in your Assignment Rule / AWA settings where auto assign / auto clear behavior is enabled or configured that might cause clearing behavior.....

If you found my response helpful, please mark it as ‘Accept as Solution’ and ‘Helpful’. This helps other community members find the right answer more easily and supports the community.