Email Labels in Actor: Automating “To Respond” & “Awaiting Reply”
If you’re managing a busy inbox, you know how quickly important conversations can slip through the cracks.
That’s why labels like To Respond and Awaiting Reply are popular not just among Actor users, but also among executive assistants, virtual assistants, and productivity-focused professionals everywhere.
See list of all Actor default labels
Today, we’re excited to announce a major improvement in how Actor manages these labels — and it’s all automatic.
Why These Labels Matter
Let’s break it down:
- To Respond: These are emails you need to reply to. Usually the last message came from someone else, and they’re waiting for your answer.
- Awaiting Reply: These are emails where you were the last to write — and you’re expecting a response.
Until now, people manually applied these labels or relied on simple rules that only looked at the last message in a thread. That’s no longer good enough.
Actor Now Understands the entire Conversation
We’ve updated Actor to apply and remove these labels based on the entire email thread, not just the last email. Here’s how it works:
✅ “To Respond” — Now Smarter
Actor now:
- Analyzes the full conversation context, not just the most recent message.
- Detects whether an email requires your input — even if the thread has bounced around.
- Automatically adds the To Respond label when someone is clearly waiting for your answer.
- Removes it once you’ve answered or if the message no longer needs a reply.
⏳ “Awaiting Reply” — Tracked Automatically
Actor will:
- Add the Awaiting Reply label after you send a message that expects a response.
- Keep it there until a meaningful reply arrives.
- Remove it if the conversation naturally ends or becomes irrelevant.
This means no more digging through your Sent folder wondering who never got back to you.
Why This Matters
- Stay on top of conversations that matter without manual sorting.
- Never forget to follow up — Actor remembers what needs closure.
- Save time by letting AI handle the boring parts.
Whether you’re managing your own inbox or assisting others, these smart labels act like a personal follow-up system built right into your email.
Ready to try it? If you’re not using Actor yet, now’s the perfect time to see how much smarter your inbox can get.
