The Category Breakdown chart shows how email volume splits across alias categories in a selected time range. It is a donut chart on the Analytics page, in the card titled Emails by Category, and each segment stands for one category, sized by the emails that category received.
This page covers the per-category chart on the Analytics page. The Dashboard cards and the Analytics period figures for forwarded and blocked mail are covered in Understanding Alias Statistics. The Dashboard also shows its own Category Breakdown list, which shows the same counts as the chart, limited to the top five categories over 7 days by default, with each count labelled as aliases.
Where is the Category Breakdown chart?#
The chart sits on the Analytics page, on the Traffic & Distribution tab, in the card titled Emails by Category. It is beside the email trend chart at the top of the tab.
To open it:
- Open Analytics. Select Analytics in the sidebar.
- Select the Traffic & Distribution tab. It is the first tab on the page.
- Find the Emails by Category card. It sits beside the email trend chart at the top of the tab.
What does the chart show?#
The chart is a donut chart. The number in the centre is the total emails received across all categories in the selected time range. Each coloured segment stands for one category. The legend below the chart lists each category with its email count, and hovering over a segment shows a tooltip with the category name, the exact email count, and the percentage of the total, to one decimal place.
The time range buttons at the top of the card are 24H, 7D, 30D and 90D. The default range is 7 days, and the 30-day and 90-day views need a Pro plan or above. A category that received no email in the selected range does not appear in the chart at all.
Work, Subscriptions, Shopping, Social, General and Other are built-in categories, and each has a fixed colour in the chart. Other categories, including custom categories created in the app, use fallback colours. Category names appear with the first letter capitalised, so shopping shows as Shopping.
How do I read the chart?#
- Start with the centre number. It is the total emails in the selected range, and every percentage on the chart is a share of that total.
- Read the largest segments. The largest segment is the category that received the most mail in the period, and the legend gives the exact count for each category.
- Hover for exact figures. The tooltip gives the count and the percentage for one category, for example how many emails Shopping received and what share of the total that is.
- Change the range to check a pattern. A category that leads over 7 days but not over 90 days is a short-term spike, not a steady pattern. Compare the same chart at 7 days and 90 days before acting on it.
How do I use the breakdown to audit categories?#
The chart shows where mail concentrates, and that concentration is where an audit starts. The category that takes most of the mail deserves the closest look, because it holds the aliases most exposed to senders.
- Find the largest category. Look at the biggest share over 90 days, not just 7 days.
- List the aliases in that category. Open Aliases and filter by that category to see every alias in it.
- Check each alias for mail it should not receive. An alias for one online store that also receives mail from unrelated senders is worth pausing or replacing. An alias that receives nothing in 90 days is a candidate for pausing.
- Check the segment for mail from aliases with no category. Aliases with no category assigned are grouped together in the chart. A large segment for such mail means the breakdown says little about where mail comes from, because most aliases carry no label. Assign categories to those aliases to make the chart useful. See Alias Categories.
- Repeat the check each month. A category that grows steadily over successive 90-day views is a trend. A category that jumps in one week and falls back is a single event, such as a sale period for Shopping aliases.
For example, a dominant Shopping segment points to the aliases used for online stores, delivery apps and loyalty schemes. If one alias in that category, such as an alias created for a single checkout, receives mail from senders beyond that store, the alias has spread further than intended and is worth replacing. The chart gives the volume; the alias list gives the address to act on.
What does the Dashboard Category Breakdown list show?#
The Dashboard shows a second Category Breakdown view, as a list rather than a chart. It lists the top five categories, each with a count and a percentage, over 7 days by default. Both views show the same counts from the same data when both use the same time range: the Dashboard list labels each count as aliases, while the Analytics chart shows the same counts as emails, with the centre number as the total. A category that leads in one view leads in the other at the same range. Use the Dashboard list for a quick view of the top five categories, and the Analytics chart to change the time range and read exact counts per category.
What if the chart shows no data?#
The chart shows "No category data yet". No email arrived in the selected time range, and the message reads "Category breakdown will appear as emails are received". Try a longer range first, such as 30 days on a Pro plan or above. If the chart stays empty at 90 days, no alias received mail in that period.
The chart shows "Failed to load category breakdown". The chart could not load its data. Check the connection and select Retry on the card. If the error repeats, reload the Analytics page.
Most mail comes from aliases with no category. No categories have been assigned to the aliases that received mail. Create categories and assign them from Aliases, as described in Alias Categories, then check the chart as new mail arrives.
A category is missing from the chart. Categories with zero emails in the selected range are left out. Switch to a longer range to check whether the category received mail earlier.
Related articles#
- Understanding Alias Statistics: what the Dashboard cards and the Analytics period figures count, and how the weekly change figure works.
- Analytics Overview: a map of the Analytics page and what each tab covers.
- Alias Performance: forwarded, blocked and reply figures for one alias.
- Alias Categories: how to create categories and assign them to aliases.
- One Email Alias per Website Keeps a Breach From Spreading: why a separate alias per service limits the damage when one service leaks its list.