Inbox OCD

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 20, 2026

Inbox OCD is an email app for Mac, Windows and iPhone. It works with your Gmail and Microsoft Outlook accounts. This page explains what the app can see, where your data goes, and how to remove it.

The short version: your email goes straight between your device and Google or Microsoft. It does not pass through our servers. Inbox OCD does not send your email to any AI service. We do not sell your data or use it for ads.

What Inbox OCD can access

You give Inbox OCD access through Google's or Microsoft's own sign-in page. Inbox OCD never sees your password. Depending on what you approve, the app can use:

• Email messages (Gmail and/or Outlook): read messages to show your inbox; apply labels/folders and read state according to rules you create; archive messages, move them to Trash, and restore them from Trash when you choose; send messages you compose, reply to, or schedule.
• Permanent deletion (optional): if you choose Delete forever or Empty Trash for messages already in your Trash, Inbox OCD deletes them permanently. Permanent deletion of Gmail messages is available only in the desktop app (the iPhone app offers it for Outlook only). It needs one extra Google permission, which the desktop app asks for only the first time you choose Delete forever or Empty Trash — never when you sign in. Every permanent delete asks you to confirm first, only messages already in Trash can be deleted this way, and nothing is ever deleted automatically or in the background. Permanently deleted messages cannot be recovered by Inbox OCD, Google or Microsoft.
• Mailbox settings (desktop app): read your existing Gmail filters and labels, and Outlook rules and categories, so Inbox OCD can import and display them. If you turn on the optional setting that makes screening apply at your mail provider, screening out a sender creates one Gmail filter or Outlook rule for that sender, and Inbox OCD removes it again if you undo that decision. Inbox OCD never edits or deletes filters or rules you made yourself.
• Calendar (Google on desktop and iPhone; Outlook on iPhone): read events on your primary Google Calendar (or your Outlook calendar on iPhone) to display them in Inbox OCD's calendar view, and create, edit or delete an event only when you explicitly choose to. Deletion is always initiated by you, is confirmed first, and removes the event from your calendar everywhere — Inbox OCD cannot undo it. Inbox OCD never changes your calendar automatically or in the background.
• Other Contacts (Google, desktop app): read email addresses automatically saved by Google and match them on your device against message senders in Inbox X-Ray. This helps classify known correspondents. Contact names are not requested; displayed sender names come from message headers. These addresses are not uploaded to us, and Inbox OCD does not modify contacts.
• Outlook contacts (desktop app): read the email addresses in your Outlook contacts and match them on your computer against message senders in Inbox X-Ray, the same way as Google Other Contacts. These addresses are not uploaded to us, and Inbox OCD never changes your contacts.
• Your email address: to sign you in and to show which account is which inside the app.

Exact permissions requested

• Google, desktop app: openid, email, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.settings.basic, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts.other.readonly, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.events. The desktop app asks for https://mail.google.com/ later, only the first time you choose Delete forever or Empty Trash.
• Google, iPhone app, connecting Gmail: openid, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.events. The iPhone app does not ask for contacts, mailbox settings or https://mail.google.com/.
• Google, iPhone app, Sign in with Google (your Inbox OCD account): openid, email, profile. Google may share basic profile details such as your name. We keep only your Google account ID and email address.
• Google, desktop app, upgrading to Pro (your Inbox OCD account): openid, email. This sign-in only identifies you so your plan follows you. It gives no access to your mail, calendar or contacts.
• Microsoft, desktop app: openid, profile, email, offline_access, User.Read, Mail.Read, Mail.Send, Mail.ReadWrite, MailboxSettings.ReadWrite (rules and categories), Contacts.Read.
• Microsoft, iPhone app: offline_access, Mail.ReadWrite, Mail.Send, Calendars.ReadWrite, User.Read.

Desktop app (Mac and Windows)

• Your email is fetched directly from Google or Microsoft to your computer over encrypted connections (HTTPS).
• Your mail, sender rules, settings and action history are stored only on your computer (on macOS under ~/Library/Application Support/Gridline; on Windows under %APPDATA%\Gridline). The desktop app does not send them to us.
• Your Google and Microsoft sign-in tokens are also stored only on your computer. When your computer's secure storage is available, they are encrypted with a key protected by the macOS Keychain or by Windows' built-in data protection (DPAPI). If that storage can't be reached, the app keeps working. In that case, existing or newly saved tokens may stay unencrypted until a later launch can reach the secure storage and encrypt them.
• The app's local service listens only on your own computer (127.0.0.1), not on your network.

iPhone app

• Gmail: you connect Gmail directly with Google on your phone. Your Gmail sign-in token is stored in your iPhone's Keychain, on that phone only, and is never sent to us. Your Gmail messages and Google Calendar events go directly between your phone and Google. They never pass through our servers.
• Outlook: connecting Outlook on iPhone uses our sign-in service. Our service swaps Microsoft's sign-in code for access tokens, refreshes them when needed, and stores them encrypted. Your Outlook messages and calendar events themselves go directly between your phone and Microsoft.
• Inbox OCD account: to use the iPhone app you sign in with Google or Apple. See “What our servers keep” below.

AI summaries

Inbox OCD does not send your email to any AI service. Cloud AI features are turned off in the desktop app, and our servers no longer accept AI requests.

On iPhones that support Apple's on-device AI, you can turn on optional summaries in Settings. These summaries are made by Apple's built-in model on your phone. The email does not leave your phone to make a summary.

Images in email

Pictures in emails can tell the sender when you open a message. In the desktop app, remote images are blocked by default. If you choose “Show images”, the app fetches them from the server that hosts them, from your computer, without sending cookies. On iPhone, pictures load directly from the server that hosts them unless you turn on “Block remote images” in Settings. Either way, that server can see your internet (IP) address and that the image was loaded.

What our servers keep

We run a small service on Cloudflare. It is used by the iPhone app, and by the desktop app when you upgrade to Pro. It keeps:

• Your account: your Google or Apple account ID and your email address, from Sign in with Google or Sign in with Apple. We use them only to sign you in.
• Sign-in sessions: so you stay signed in. Session keys are stored in a scrambled (hashed) form.
• Outlook sign-in tokens for iPhone, stored encrypted, as described above.
• Account dates: when your account was created and when you were last active.
• Rate-limit records: to stop abuse, each sign-in or similar request is briefly recorded with which feature was used, your internet (IP) address or account ID, and the time. These records are deleted automatically within about two hours.
• Usage events: a few events, such as signing up, are logged with Cloudflare Analytics Engine. Each event has its name, your account ID when you are signed in, a number, and a few fixed details such as whether you signed up with Google or Apple. The apps do not put email content in them.
• Pro plan record, if you buy Pro: your Stripe customer ID; your subscription ID, status, monthly or yearly, renewal or trial-end date, and whether it is set to cancel; or, for a lifetime purchase, the Stripe payment ID and the date Pro was granted. We use it only to give you Pro.
• Pro computers, if you buy Pro: a random ID for each desktop install your plan is used on (up to 5), and when it was first seen. The ID is made by the app and says nothing about you or your computer. It stops one purchase from unlocking unlimited copies.
• Credit balance record: new accounts still get a small AI-credit balance record, left over from an earlier design. AI requests are turned off, so it is not used.

Our servers do not receive, store, refresh or use your Gmail, Google Calendar or Google Contacts access, and they never receive your email, calendar or contacts. Gmail tokens that older versions of the iPhone app stored with us were revoked with Google and removed from our active database. Cloudflare D1 Time Travel may retain encrypted copies of deleted records, including historical revoked Gmail token records, in provider-managed recovery history for up to 30 days. These copies are not part of the active database or used in normal operation.

If you use the early-access form on our website, your email address is sent through FormSubmit to our support inbox. If you email support, we receive what you send.

Payments

You can buy Inbox OCD Pro in the desktop app: monthly or yearly (each with a free trial), or a one-time lifetime purchase. The iPhone app does not sell anything.

• To upgrade, you sign in with Google (openid and email only) so your plan is tied to your Inbox OCD account. This is separate from connecting your mailbox and gives no access to your email.
• Payment happens on Stripe's checkout page. Stripe collects your card and billing details and processes the payment under the Stripe Privacy Policy. We never see or store your full card number.
• Stripe tells our service when a payment, renewal, cancellation or refund happens. We keep only the Pro plan record listed above.
• Our service gives the desktop app a signed copy of your plan. The app stores it on your computer and checks it there. When the app starts, it asks our service for your current plan. That request carries your Inbox OCD sign-in, not your email.
• Subscribers can manage or cancel their subscription through Stripe's customer portal, opened from Settings → Plan → Manage subscription.

Google API Services — Limited Use disclosure

Inbox OCD's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. In plain terms:

• Google user data is used only to provide the sign-in, email, calendar and known-contact features described on this page.
• It is not used for advertising, and it is not sold.
• It is not transferred to third parties, including AI providers, except:
  • when you choose it — for example, people you send email to receive your message, and when remote images load (by default on iPhone, or when you choose “Show images” on desktop), the server hosting the image sees the request;
  • to our hosting provider, Cloudflare, which stores the account records described above for us;
  • when needed for security, or when the law requires it.
• No person reads it, unless you give permission (for example, by sending it to support), it is needed for security, or the law requires it.

AI and machine learning

Inbox OCD does not use Google user data — raw, aggregated or anonymized — to develop, improve or train artificial-intelligence or machine-learning models, and does not allow anyone else to. Google user data is not sent to any AI provider.

Who we share data with

We do not sell or rent your personal data or your email. Data goes only where needed for the app to work: to Google and Microsoft for the accounts you connect; to the people you email when you send a message; to the servers that host images in your email when those images load; to Apple if you use Sign in with Apple; to Stripe, which processes Pro payments; to Cloudflare, which hosts our service; and to FormSubmit for website early-access requests. We may also disclose data when needed for security or when the law requires it.

Deleting your data

You can delete your account from inside the app: Settings → Delete account & data.

• Desktop: the app asks Google to cancel Inbox OCD's access to your Gmail, then deletes your account, sign-in tokens, rules and settings from your computer. Microsoft does not offer a way for the app to cancel its own access, so the app deletes the Outlook tokens and points you to Microsoft's permissions page. If Google can't be reached, the local data is still deleted and the app shows you the Google permissions page. If you signed in to buy Pro, the app first deletes your Inbox OCD account on our servers: an active subscription is cancelled at Stripe, and your account, sessions, Pro plan record and list of Pro computers are deleted. If the subscription can’t be cancelled, nothing is deleted and the app asks you to try again.
• iPhone: the app asks Google to cancel Inbox OCD's access to your Gmail. If Google hasn't confirmed yet, the Gmail token stays in your iPhone's Keychain only as a “still to cancel” record. The app keeps retrying and deletes that record as soon as Google confirms. The app then deletes your account from our servers: your account record, sessions, credit records and stored Outlook tokens. It also removes the sign-in data saved on your phone.
• Payment records at Stripe: Stripe keeps records of payments you made, as payment and tax laws require. Deleting your Inbox OCD account doesn’t delete them. You can ask Stripe about them under its privacy policy.
• What stays on our servers after deletion: usage events already logged in Cloudflare Analytics Engine are not deleted. Short-lived rate-limit records are not removed by deletion either; they are deleted automatically within about two hours. We also keep a scrambled receipt of the deletion request so the app can confirm the deletion finished. The receipt contains nothing about your account. Receipts older than 30 days are removed the next time any account is deleted. Cloudflare D1 Time Travel may retain encrypted copies of deleted records, including historical revoked Gmail token records, in provider-managed recovery history for up to 30 days. These copies are not part of the active database or used in normal operation.

You can also remove Inbox OCD's access at any time from your Google Account permissions or Microsoft account permissions page. Uninstalling the desktop app and deleting its data folder removes its local data. Deleting data in Inbox OCD does not delete your email at Google or Microsoft. For any other deletion request, write to [email protected].

Security

All communication with Google, Microsoft and our service uses encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS). Sign-in uses each provider's official sign-in page. Inbox OCD never sees or stores your password, and access is limited to the permissions you approve.

Children

Inbox OCD is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, we will update this page and the date above.

Contact

Questions or requests: [email protected]