Drift User Guide

Getting Started

What is Drift?

Drift is an AI-powered out-of-office management platform that monitors your inbox while you're away and delivers a prioritized Return Playbook when you come back — so you're caught up in 2 hours instead of 2 days.

Creating Your Account

1. Go to withdrift.io and click Get Started
2. Choose your signup method:
   • Google — Fastest option, one-click signup
   • Email & Password — Enter your details manually
3. If using email signup:
   • Enter your full name
   • Enter your work email address
   • Create a password (minimum 8 characters)
   • Accept the Terms of Service
4. Verify your email by clicking the link sent to your inbox
5. Sign in to begin onboarding

Onboarding Walkthrough

After signing in, you'll complete a 5-step onboarding:

1. Welcome — Overview of Drift and what you'll accomplish
2. Choose Your Plan — Select the plan that fits your needs
3. Connect Email — Link your Gmail or Outlook account via secure OAuth
4. Connect Slack (Optional) — Available for Team Growth subscribers
5. Complete — Review your setup and access your dashboard

Connecting Your Accounts

Gmail Integration

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. Click Connect Gmail
3. Sign in with your Google account
4. Grant permissions for reading/sending email, managing labels, and accessing Google Calendar
5. Select which email aliases to use for auto-replies

Once connected, Drift will monitor your inbox during OOO periods, sync your Google Calendar, and send auto-replies from your selected alias.

Outlook Integration

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. Click Connect Outlook
3. Sign in with your Microsoft account
4. Grant permissions for mail and calendar access

Slack Integration

Available on Team Growth plan

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. Click Connect Slack
3. Select your workspace and authorize Drift

Calendar Sync

Both Gmail and Outlook integrations include calendar access. Drift uses your calendar to detect existing OOO events, check for conflicts, add OOO events automatically, and understand your return date.

Creating an OOO Period

Schedule New OOO

1. Go to Out of Office from the main navigation
2. Click Schedule OOO
3. Select your Start Date and End Date
4. Configure options: auto-replies, custom message, inbox sync, Slack sync, Slack status, and calendar event
5. Review your settings and click Create OOO

During Your OOO

While you're away, your dashboard shows your current OOO status, end date countdown, total emails received, emails filtered by AI, urgent email count, and real-time categorization preview.

Cancel or Modify OOO

• Click Cancel OOO to end early
• Auto-replies stop immediately
• Email monitoring continues until the original end date
• Your Return Playbook will still be generated

Return Playbook

What is the Return Playbook?

The Return Playbook is an AI-generated summary delivered when you return from OOO. It transforms hundreds of emails into a prioritized action plan.

What's Included

• Executive Summary — A brief overview of what happened while you were away
• High Priority Items — Urgent emails requiring immediate attention
• Medium Priority Items — Important but not time-critical emails
• Low Priority Items — FYI emails and general updates
• Resolved Items — Issues handled without your input
• Time Estimates — Approximate time needed for each item

Working with Action Items

• Mark Complete — Click the checkmark to mark items done
• View Email — Click to open the original email
• Progress Tracking — Watch the progress bar update as you complete items

Delivery Settings

Go to Settings → Out of Office to configure your delivery time (default: 6:00 AM) and whether to receive playbooks via email in addition to in-app.

Email Categorization

How It Works

Drift uses AI to analyze incoming emails based on sender information, email content, subject line, thread context, and your custom rules.

Categories

Customizing Categorization

VIP Contacts — Go to Settings → Out of Office, add email addresses under VIP Contacts. All emails from VIPs are marked Urgent.

Urgent Keywords — Add terms like "urgent", "asap", "critical", "deadline". Matching emails are marked Urgent.

Custom Rules (Team Growth plan) — Create rules based on sender, domain, subject, or content.

Auto-Reply Configuration

Enable Auto-Replies

1. Go to Settings → Out of Office
2. Toggle Enable Auto-Replies on
3. Edit your custom message
4. Auto-replies activate when OOO starts

Backup Contact Routing

1. Go to Settings → Out of Office
2. Toggle Enable Backup on
3. Enter your backup's email address
4. Urgent emails will be forwarded to your backup, kept in your inbox, and flagged in your Return Playbook

Smart Auto-Reply Behavior

• External Only — Team members don't receive auto-replies
• Once Per Sender — Each person receives only one auto-reply
• Thread-Aware — Doesn't reply to every message in a thread

Team Features

Available on Team Starter and Team Growth plans

Getting Started with Teams

Creating a team (for the team owner)

1. During onboarding, toggle to Team when selecting your plan
2. Choose Team Starter (up to 10 members) or Team Growth (11–50 members)
3. Enter your team name and select the number of seats you need
4. Complete checkout — your team is created automatically after payment
5. You become the Owner with full control over the team

Joining a team (for invited members)

1. You'll receive an email invitation from your team's owner or admin
2. Click the Join Team link in the email
3. If you don't have a Drift account yet, you'll be prompted to sign up first
4. Review the team name and who invited you, then click Accept Invitation
5. You're in — your account is now linked to the team with access to all team features based on your role

Note: You can only be on one team at a time. If you're already on a team, you'll need to leave it before accepting a new invite. Invitations expire after 7 days.

Inviting Team Members

1. Go to Team from the main navigation
2. Click Invite Member
3. Enter their email address
4. Select their role: Admin (manage team settings and members) or Member (access team features only)
5. Click Send Invite

Team Roles

Team Dashboard & Coverage Calendar

• View who's currently out and upcoming scheduled OOO
• Visual calendar showing all team OOO periods, color-coded by member
• See who's covering for whom and overlapping OOO periods
• Filter by person or date range

Settings & Preferences

Account Settings

• Profile — Update your name, set your timezone, view connected accounts
• Email — Change your account email (requires verification)
• Security — Change password or set one if you signed up with Google

OOO Settings

• Enable/disable auto-replies and customize message
• Configure backup contact
• Manage VIP contacts and urgent keywords
• Set playbook delivery time

Integrations

Connect or disconnect Gmail, Outlook, Slack, and manage calendar sync from Settings → Integrations.

Data & Privacy

• Export Data — Download all your data as JSON (profile, OOO sessions, email metadata, playbooks, settings)
• Delete Account — Go to Settings → Account, click Delete Account, type "DELETE" to confirm. Account removed within 30 days.

Billing & Subscription

Plans

Plan Features

Personal — 1 email account, AI categorization, smart auto-replies, Return Playbook, calendar sync, 14-day email history, email support.

Team Starter (everything in Personal, plus) — Up to 10 team members, team coverage dashboard, backup routing, shared OOO calendar, 30-day email history, priority support.

Team Growth (everything in Team Starter, plus) — 11–50 team members, Slack integration, advanced analytics, custom categorization rules, 90-day email history, phone & chat support.

Managing Your Subscription

1. Go to Settings → Billing
2. View current plan and usage
3. Upgrade or downgrade plans
4. Update payment method
5. Download invoices

Troubleshooting & Support

Common Issues

Email not syncing

1. Check that your account is still connected in Settings → Integrations
2. Try disconnecting and reconnecting your email provider
3. Ensure you granted all required permissions

Auto-replies not sending

1. Verify auto-replies are enabled in Settings → Out of Office
2. Check that your OOO period is currently active
3. Confirm your email integration is connected

Playbook not generated

1. Playbooks are generated at your scheduled delivery time
2. Check Settings → Out of Office for delivery time
3. Ensure your OOO period has ended

Can't connect Gmail/Outlook

1. Try using an incognito/private browser window
2. Clear browser cookies for Google/Microsoft
3. Ensure pop-ups are allowed
4. Contact support if issues persist

Integration Recovery Steps

If an integration stops working:

1. Check Integration Status — Go to Settings → Integrations, look for error indicators
2. Disconnect and Reconnect — Click Disconnect, wait a few seconds, reconnect and grant all permissions
3. Recreate Your OOO — Integration actions only run when OOO is created, so create a new session after fixing
4. Clear Browser Cache — Try in an incognito window, clear cookies for the affected service

Getting Help

Email us at hello@withdrift.io.

• Personal plan: Response within 24 hours
• Team plans: Response within 4 hours (priority)

Security & Privacy

How We Protect Your Data

• Encryption — AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit
• OAuth 2.0 — We never store your email password
• Privacy — Email content processed in memory, never stored permanently
• Compliance — GDPR compliant, SOC 2 Type II in progress

Your Control

• Revoke access to any integration anytime
• Export all your data on demand
• Delete your account and all data
• View exactly what permissions are granted