I switched from Gmail to Spark Mail and this is what happened

As a video editor, digital marketer, and MBA student, I was constantly faced with the issue of lost emails and delayed deadlines. My inbox was flooded with spam from companies whose emails I had once signed up to receive a report, and forgot to unsubscribe. As a result, I spent up to an hour every morning checking emails.

One of my friends suggested trying Spark Mail instead of Gmail. I was very skeptical in the beginning. "Another email client?" I thought. "How different could it really be?" Turns out, completely different – in all the right ways.

Here's how my email experience transformed after making the switch.

Why Spark Mail is the best email app for productivity

Honestly, I hated email management. It's a trap! Every time I went to email, I was gone for a long time, which drained my energy. Instead of editing a video, I manually cleaned out my email because I couldn't find crucial info from a client!

Here's what changed when I switched to Spark Mail:

Let’s delve deeper into each aspect that has changed since I switched to Spark Mail.

Smart prioritization reduced email checking time

Gmail's priority inbox never quite got it right for me. Important client feedback would get buried while promotional emails somehow reached the top. And it’s not only my challenge. As I found on Reddit, professionals who receive a lot of emails are also struggling with the same issue:

“I get more emails than I can keep up wit, and so do all my colleagues, even at other companies. No one seems to have the answer to this issue. To top it off, it causes overwhelm, which then causes procrastination”.

Spark Mail's approach to inbox management is fundamentally different:

• Automatic categorization separates emails into Personal, Notifications, and Newsletters without any manual setup
• Smart priority detection learns which senders matter most to you over time
• Visual separation makes it instantly clear which emails need immediate attention
• "Done" vs "Archive" approach creates a more satisfying email workflow than Gmail's endless archive

I now process my morning emails in under 20 minutes instead of the hour it used to take. I can instantly see which client messages need immediate responses without hunting through dozens of unrelated emails.

Nothing distracts me from focused work

As a creative professional, getting into a flow state is crucial. With Gmail, every new message notification pulled me out of my editing zone. Sure, I switched to another tab to check my inbox, and in 90% of cases, it was just another email-marketing campaign!

Things changed with Spark Mail. Its distraction-free feature is super handy. Look how it works:

• You receive only notifications for emails that matter
• Irritated by never-ending group conversations? Just mute this thread!
• During the deep work session, you can turn on Focus mode, and it will pause all notifications

Now, I can edit for three solid hours without a single email interruption and still be confident that I'm not missing anything urgent from clients. By the way, here I shared my top tools for speeding up video editing!

Multiple inboxes access without the hassle

My work requires maintaining separate email identities – my personal brand, client-specific addresses, and studio communications.

While using Gmail, I had to log in and out of accounts constantly. As a result, I was missing messages and was always confused about which account I was currently using.

Now, I enjoy a seamless experience of using Spark Mail, as I can receive and manage emails from different inboxes (Gmail, AOL, iCloud, Yahoo, and others) in a single account.

Why I find it extremely useful:

• All accounts are shown in one unified inbox
• I can instantly identify which account an email belongs to thanks to color-coding
• Smart sends ensures replies go from the correct account every time

No more embarrassing moments sending from the wrong account or missing client communications because I forgot to check all my inboxes.

Learn more:

• The best free email services for Mac in 2025
• How to recover deleted emails on Mac
• How to unsubscribe from emails: Best methods revealed
• How to write better emails (with examples)

AI-tools help me with communication

Sometimes (or, more precisely, always) I am too lazy to bother with the TOV of an email. But I don't want to turn to ChatGPT to write drafts for me — it's immediately noticeable to the recipient, and I don't like it. So I was glad to discover Spark Mail's AI tool. It’s like having a professional email secretary!

What I use it for:

• Rephrase awkward messages into clear, professional language
• Summarize lengthy email threads when I need to catch up quickly
• Proofread my drafts and check grammar
• Adjust tone from casual (to my creative teammates) to formal (to my uni professors)

And yes, sometimes I use it to draft a response based on the original email’s content. But you know what? It sounds much more essential than ChatGPT’s texts!

My final verdict about Spark Mail

Using an email app is more than just technical features – it's about experience and comfort. Since I switched from Gmail to Spark Mail, I've gotten a more organized inbox and substantial time savings. I'm more focused and don't miss important messages. That's why I recommend you try Spark Mail, available in Setapp, and witness what real effortless email management looks like.