Replies to your emails

When you send out an email to your subscribers, Buttondown automatically tracks replies. When a subscriber hits "reply" on their email client, the reply is routed through Buttondown so you can see which emails received the most replies, trigger automations based on who's replying, and forward replies to other members of your newsletter.

The reply will still be forwarded to your account email, so you won't miss a single comment!

Buttondown also tracks inbound emails from people who aren't yet subscribers to your newsletter. These messages will appear in your inbox alongside subscriber replies.

You don't have to leave Buttondown to respond. Open a conversation in your Inbox and reply straight from the thread — your message sends from your newsletter just like any other reply, and the whole back-and-forth stays in one place.

Replies can carry files, not just text. In the reply composer, click the paperclip, pick a file — a PDF, an image, your media kit — and it sends along with your message. Once the reply goes out, each file appears as a download chip in the thread, so you can always see what you sent.

Reply attachments follow the same supported file types, size limit, and plan availability as the attachments you add to your emails.

Whether Buttondown tracks replies depends on how your sending domain is set up:

• Buttondown's shared domain (the default, if you haven't added a sending domain): reply tracking is always on.
• A managed custom domain (you delegate a subdomain to us): reply tracking is always on.
• A manual custom domain (you manage your own DNS records, including MX): reply tracking is off by default, so replies go straight to your own inbox. You can turn it on under Settings → Sending domain → Add-ons if you'd rather have Buttondown track and forward them.

If you're on a managed sending domain, you can set a custom reply-to address yourself from Settings → Sending domain → Add-ons. By default, replies route through Buttondown to your account email; a custom reply-to sends them to a different inbox instead. Because a custom reply-to only makes sense when your emails consistently come from your own domain, setting one also turns on "always send from a custom domain."

For example: if your newsletter shares product updates, you may want it to come from your design team. But if subscribers have feedback, bug reports, or questions, it would be more useful for your support team to receive those replies. Setting a custom reply-to directs replies to the correct team.

The email header might look like this:

from:	Design Team <design@example.com>
reply-to:	support@example.com
subject:	Announcing our dazzling new redesign!