What Otto stores

The mailbox and the index

Your mail stays with Gmail or Outlook. Otto keeps details such as sender, recipients, subject, snippet, labels, dates and read or starred state so its inbox can load and update quickly. Message bodies and attachments are normally fetched from the connected provider when needed. Searching older mail can still use the provider.

That index is not the entire storage story. When you use a feature that needs saved work or a review trail, selected content may be retained separately. It is better to name those cases than to say that Otto never stores email text.

Saved conversations, writing and work

An assistant conversation can keep excerpts from the email you asked about, including body text, until you delete the conversation or your account. Notes, snippets, prompt templates and shared drafts keep what you or your team wrote. Scheduled-send payloads and undo windows have their own delivery records; the provider's draft identifier alone does not describe every send path.

Work can save an accepted promise, the message it came from, and any notes or evidence you choose. It can also save a prepared document or deck and the result of a requested action. Drafts still live in your mailbox; Otto keeps a link to the draft and its latest revision. A saved piece of work can remain after the temporary processing job has expired.

AI memory keeps concise facts and preferences, where they came from, and data used to find them later under its controls. Temporary excerpts used for processing expire separately. A personal chat is not automatically published as team memory.

Optional rules and guest requests

If available and enabled, sender screening and Focus keep sender policies, named bundles, schedule settings and message references. Hide in Otto removes matching mail from Otto's primary inbox and suppresses Otto's new-mail alert; it does not block provider delivery, delete mail or mark it read. Focus schedules when its own bundle notice appears; held messages remain accessible at any time.

A booking link keeps the availability policy you choose and a guest request's email and proposed time. Otto keeps what is needed to verify and manage the request and limit misuse. A requested time can change until the booking is confirmed. These controls are off until enabled and may depend on your plan and whether they are available in your account.

What you can control

You can review or disable optional rules and use Settings → Privacy and data for export and account deletion. Deleting a personal account removes personal data after the stated grace period; organization-owned documents and knowledge have their own ownership and lifecycle. Chat attachments you upload and email attachments read from the provider are also different categories.

For the exact categories, recipients, retention and deletion terms, read the privacy policy. For ordinary assistant action review and its limits, read AI that waits for your approval.