Inbox Previews

See how your email looks in real inboxes on real devices

Inbox previews allow you to view your email in a variety of inboxes from real devices/apps/clients.

Getting started

To access Inbox Previews, you must be on a Pro or Business plan with the Inbox Previews base plan. This base plan starts at $49/month and includes 500 previews. Inbox Previews beyond that are charged monthly based on total account usage. Go to your Billing page to see and change your current plan(s).

Inbox Previews

Click Inbox Previews to the right of "Browser" to get started. You can filter by mobile, desktop, web, and tablet versions across different apps, operating systems, and whether you want to preview in dark mode. Select each preview you want from the list or check Select All next to each device type to preview all. Click Continue in the top right.

Next, you'll see a Grid view of each preview. Click one to load the view. You can also switch to a Card view at the top of the panel. This lets you scroll left/right through each preview.

Silent video of the full Parcel window. A sample email is displayed in the Code Editor in the middle. To the right, Inbox Previews is selected and shows a list of preview options split into four categories ("Mobile", "Desktop", "Web", "Tablet"). In the top right, the cursor selects the filter icon then chooses "OS versions - latest versions," which updates the list of preview options. The cursor selects Gmail App Pixel 5 (Dark Mode) and Gmail App Pixel 5, the light mode, under the Mobile category and clicks Continue in the top right. The window updates to show square-cropped previews of the email for each selected preview. The cursor then selects the card view icon to the left of grid view at the top of the preview, and the window updates to show side-by-side previews with the device dimensions.
Screen recording demonstrating how to use Inbox Previews
Tip

Only check the previews you need. We count each load and refresh towards your plan's usage, which informs billing.

Inbox Preview Groups

Inbox Preview Groups are available for you to easily save frequent previews you test with for resuse. If you know your audience is based in a majority on iPhones, save these previews as a group to easily test with on your next email instead of hand selecting them each time you need to QA.

Create an Inbox Preview Group

Groups are available across workspaces, meaning that your team can stay aligned with one another during your email QA.

To edit email groups or add previews, you will need to recreate the group and delete the old one.

Share Inbox Previews

You can share inbox previews outside of Parcel. After selecting a group or individual inbox preview, click the arrow icon at the top. This copies a link that you can share with anyone. Scroll left to right within the preview link to view all. Each time you copy a preview link to your clipboard, a new link is generated, which means after you edit the email, you have to generate a new link to share updates.

Within Inbox Previews, the user selects all besides the Mobile previews. Then the user selects Continue at the top and clicks the arrow icon to copy the link to their clipboard.
Share an Inbox Preview

Each link expires after 6 months.

Email Parts

Unlike the Browser previews, Inbox Previews only display HTML/MJML content. Text and AMP email parts are not reflected in the Inbox Previews.

Screenshots

Take a full length screenshot of any preview by clicking the Screenshot button directly above it. Take a screenshot of every preview in the grid view by clicking the Screenshot button at the top. Screenshots will be saved to your computer in the directory of your choice.

Usage

Admins can view their entire account usage for Inbox Previews on the Billing page.

Card View and Grid View

Switch between Grid and Card view at the top of the preview.

Up close image of the buttons in the top right corner of the Parcel window. Two buttons are highlighted with a red box. The left of the two buttons is the Card view and the right is the Grid view. The icon for Card view is comprised of several rectangles of varied sizes. The Grid view icon is a 9 by 9 grid of small squares.
Annotated screenshot showing the buttons for card (left) and grid (right) views

Card view displays each preview side-by-side in a single row. Each card is displayed in the dimensions and aspect ratio of its device. Zoom out to see more cards at once. Scroll inside any card and all other cards will scroll to the same position. Click the Maximize button above any card to view that preview individually.

Image of the Preview window in Parcel. Two previews are displayed, each for a different phone. Each preview is a different size and different aspect ratio. Above the first preview are several additional buttons - "Remove", "Move", "Maximize", "Refresh", and "Capture screenshot."
Screenshot showing the Card view for Inbox Previews. The cursor (not shown) is over the first preview, revealing the preview specific controls above it.

Grid view displays each preview as a square in a grid. Each preview is displayed as an equal-sized square. Click on any preview to look at it individually.

Image of the Preview window in Parcel. Two previews are displayed, each for a different phone. Each preview is the same size square. Each is labeled with its device name and screen dimensions. Above the first preview are several additional buttons - "Remove", "Move", "Refresh", and "Capture screenshot."
Screenshot showing the Grid view for Inbox Previews. The cursor (not shown) is over the first preview, revealing the preview specific controls above it.

When you hover over a preview in either view, you'll see controls to remove, rearrange, or refresh the preview. At the top of Inbox Previews, you can adjust Preview Controls, too. These allow you to block images, change the color scheme, or apply visual impairments.

A view of Inbox Previews. An icon of three horizontal faders is selected in the top right which shows a menu of options like block images, change the color scheme, and add a visual impairment.
Screenshot showing the menu of Preview Controls for Inbox Previews.