Preventing Email Loops in BoldDesk: Causes, Detection & Recovery
An email loop is a repeated back‑and‑forth of automatic replies between email systems (e.g., helpdesks, mail servers, or out‑of‑office responders) that continues indefinitely until it is interrupted.
An email loop typically starts when:
- BoldDesk sends a notification/reply to a sender’s address.
- That sender’s system generates an automatic response (e.g., auto‑reply, another helpdesk’s autoresponder).
- BoldDesk replies again to that automatic response—restarting the cycle.
To protect your inbox and avoid ticket noise, BoldDesk detects loop patterns (via email headers and auto‑reply indicators) and suspends the messages to stop the loop.
Detection of email loops relies on standard auto‑reply signals found in email headers (for example, auto‑submitted or precedence indicators) and repetition patterns. Suspended messages are not delivered to tickets until reviewed.
Common scenarios that cause email loops
- Another helpdesk or ticketing system sends automated replies back to BoldDesk notifications.
- Out‑of‑office / vacation responders that reply to every incoming message.
- Automated applications or bots that respond to notification emails.
- Support-to-support email chains (emails exchanged between two support addresses configured in BoldDesk). In these cases, BoldDesk will automatically suspend the messages to prevent looping.
How BoldDesk handles email loops
- Detects repeated auto‑reply patterns and auto‑response headers.
- Suspends suspected looping emails to prevent further noise.
- Surfaces them in the Suspended Emails view so agents can safely review and decide the next action.
To recover a suspended email, explore more on How to Manage Suspended Emails in BoldDesk.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1) What is an email loop?
An email loop is a repeated back‑and‑forth of automatic replies between email systems (e.g., helpdesks, mail servers, or out‑of‑office responders) that continues until interrupted.
2) How does an email loop start?
It typically starts when:
- BoldDesk sends a notification/reply to a sender.
- The sender’s system generates an automatic response (e.g., auto‑reply, another helpdesk’s autoresponder).
- BoldDesk replies to that automatic response—restarting the cycle.
3) What are common scenarios that cause email loops?
- Another helpdesk or ticketing system auto‑replies to BoldDesk notifications.
- Out‑of‑office / vacation responders reply to every message.
- Automated applications or bots respond to notification emails.
- Support-to-support email chains (emails between two support addresses configured in BoldDesk). In these cases, BoldDesk automatically suspends the emails to prevent looping.
4) How does BoldDesk detect email loops?
BoldDesk detects loop patterns using email headers and auto‑reply indicators (e.g., auto‑submitted or precedence signals) and repetition patterns.
5) What happens when an email loop is detected?
BoldDesk suspends the suspected looping messages to stop the cycle and prevent ticket noise. Suspended messages are not delivered to tickets until reviewed.
6) Where can I review emails caught by loop protection?
They appear in the Suspended Emails view within the Ticket module, allowing agents to review and decide the next action.
