The Trends charts in Analytics show forwarded email volume by day and by hour of the day. The Email Volume chart plots total forwarded email per day for the selected time range, and the Activity Heatmap shows volume by day of the week and three-hour block. The charts cover forwarded email across all aliases.
Where are the Trends charts?#
Analytics opens on the Traffic and Distribution tab, which holds the Email Volume chart and the Activity Heatmap. The same tab holds the category breakdown chart. The other tabs on the page are Alias Performance, Top Senders, Deliverability and Bounces, and Global MTA Map.
The charts cover forwarded email across all aliases and do not break volume down by alias. Per-alias volume is in the Alias Performance tab, which is where a spike is traced to its source alias.
What does the Email Volume chart show?#
The Email Volume chart is an area chart of total forwarded email per day for the selected time range. Below the chart, the footer shows the total email count for the range and the daily average. A badge beside the chart title states the trend as a percentage: average daily volume in the second half of the range compared with the first half. A change above 5 percent in either direction shows as up or down; a smaller change shows no badge.
Hover over the chart to see the exact count for one day. The tooltip shows the date and the number of emails forwarded on that day.
How do I change the time range?#
The Email Volume chart has four range buttons: 24H, 7D, 30D, and 90D. The default range is 7 days.
- Open Analytics and stay on the Traffic and Distribution tab.
- Click a range button above the Email Volume chart: 24H for the last 24 hours, 7D for the last 7 days, 30D for the last 30 days, or 90D for the last 90 days.
- Check the footer label under the chart to confirm the range, for example "Last 7 days".
The 30-day and 90-day ranges need a Pro plan or above. On a Free plan, selecting either range shows an upgrade prompt instead of the longer view. A shorter range shows daily detail, including single-day spikes. A longer range smooths single days out and shows the broader pattern.
How do I read the peak hours heatmap?#
The Activity Heatmap shows when email arrives, by day of the week and by hour of the day. It has seven rows, one for each day from Sunday to Saturday, and eight columns, one for each three-hour block: 12am, 3am, 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. Darker green cells mean more email arrived in that block, and pale cells mean little or none. A legend below the grid runs from Less to More.
Hover over a cell to see the exact count for that day and hour block, for example "Tue 9 AM, 42 emails". A Peak label below the grid names the single busiest day and hour block in the selected range, for example "Peak: Tue 9 AM".
A peak at the same hour each day usually matches a routine sender, such as a morning newsletter or a daily digest. Mail arriving mostly in the small hours, such as 3am, often comes from automated senders or senders in a different timezone. The heatmap labels hours on the 12-hour clock. It does not state which timezone the hour buckets use, so compare the peak hour against the time mail actually arrived in the destination inbox before acting on it.
How do I trace a volume spike to one alias?#
A spike is one day with far more email than the days around it. The worked example below uses illustrative values, not a recorded event, and shows the full check.
Example: the 7-day Email Volume chart shows about 60 emails a day, then 240 emails on Tuesday. The daily average for the week is 86, so Tuesday stands out. The check below finds which alias received the extra mail.
- Note the spike day and the size of the jump. In this example, Tuesday has 240 emails against a usual 60, so about 180 extra emails arrived on that day.
- Open the Alias Performance tab on the same Analytics page. It lists each alias with its forwarded count for the selected range.
- Find the alias with the largest forwarded count. In this example, the alias
deals@yourhandle.aliasfleet.meshows 175 forwarded emails for the week, while every other alias shows fewer than 20. That alias accounts for nearly all of the extra mail. - Open the alias from the list to see its own analytics page, which shows its volume over time and its top senders.
- Check the senders. In this example, the top sender is a shopping newsletter that sent a sale campaign on Tuesday, with several messages in one day. The spike is a campaign, not a leak or a fault.
- Decide what to do. For a noisy newsletter, pause the alias, change its category, or add a sender rule. For a spike from an unknown sender, check the alias on the Aliases page and look at the recent mail before changing anything.
If no single alias explains the spike, the extra mail is spread across several aliases. Widen the range to 30 days to check whether the same day of the week spikes every week, which points to a weekly sender rather than a one-off event. The Understanding Your Alias Statistics guide explains the three stats cards shown above the charts, and How Monthly Trends Work explains how the trend percentage is calculated. A separate alias for each website makes this check possible: when each service has its own alias, a spike usually traces back to one service. See One Email Alias per Website Keeps a Breach From Spreading for why that separation matters.
What if the charts are empty or flat?#
A chart with no data shows the message "No email volume data" with the note "Volume trends will show here as emails arrive". A new account, or an account with no forwarded mail in the selected range, shows this state. Send a test email to an alias, wait for it to arrive, then reload Analytics.
A flat chart with the same low count every day usually means only one or two regular senders are active. Check the Alias Performance tab: if only one alias has forwarded mail, the charts have little to show yet.
If the charts do not change after mail has arrived, check the "Updated at" time near the top of the Analytics page. If the time is old, wait a few minutes and reload.
Related guides#
- Understanding Your Alias Statistics: the three stats cards above the charts, and lifetime counts against monthly trends.
- How Monthly Trends Work: how the trend percentage is calculated.
- Alias Performance: forwarded volume per alias, used to trace a spike to its source.