Finding Arca in the tray or menu bar
Arca places a small icon that gives you quick access to the app — without having to find the main window.
- On macOS: the Arca icon appears in the menu bar at the top of your screen — look for it near the clock in the top-right corner. It’s visible by default, no setup needed.
- On Windows: the Arca icon lives in the system tray, part of the taskbar at the bottom of your screen — look for it near the clock in the bottom-right corner. Windows hides it by default inside the ^ (“show hidden icons”) arrow.
Windows: drag the icon out (one-time setup)
Click the ^ arrow near the clock to show hidden icons. Find the green Arca triangle and drag it down into the tray — to the right of the ^ — so it stays visible from now on.
You only need to do this once. After that, the icon is always there.
Your quick access point
The tray icon (Windows) or menu bar icon (macOS) is the handiest way to use Arca day-to-day:
- Green = Arca is open. Click to jump straight in.
- Grey = your session has expired or you’ve quit. Your mail is locked and safe — even if your computer is stolen — unless someone knows your password.
Right-click the icon for instant shortcuts: Compose, Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Contacts, Settings, and more — without opening the main window first.
One place for all your accounts
Arca keeps all your email accounts in one app. You choose how many to view at once — one, several, or all of them. This is something webmail can’t do.
The screenshot shows a power user with 10 accounts and hundreds of thousands of emails — all accessible from one window.
Account icons
Each account has its own colored icon in the row at the top. Click an icon to show or hide that account in your inbox. Highlighted icons are the accounts you’re currently viewing.
The Accounts menu
Click Accounts to see your full list and tick which ones to view. Use add to connect a new account, or edit to remove accounts, change their icons, reorder them, or set how far back to download email.
Right-click for quick actions
Right-click any email in the list for a menu of quick actions: open it in a new tab, background tab, or separate window; mark it as read/unread; tag it; move or copy it to a folder; or delete it.
Tags: recognize mail by color
Tags let you mark emails with a color label — Important, Work, Personal, To Do, and more — so you can tell what’s what at a glance.
Tag emails manually via right-click, or set up a filter (in Advanced Search) to tag incoming mail automatically by sender, subject, or other criteria. Filters can also move incoming mail straight to the right folder.
Search and Advanced Search
Type in the search bar to search across your active accounts. Click the sliders icon for Advanced Search: filter by sender, subject, date, size, tags, and more. Click Create Filter to save criteria as an automatic rule for incoming mail.
Email toolbar
When you select one or more emails, the toolbar above the list becomes active. Mark, move, copy, forward, flag as spam, or delete selected messages. Hover over any icon for a tooltip.
Folders and custom folders
The left panel shows standard folders (Inbox, Starred, Sent, Drafts, Spam, Trash) plus custom folders you create. Custom folders can be nested under parent folders. Click Manage custom folders to create, rename, or reorganize them.
Choose your layout
Click the layout icon to choose how messages are displayed:
- No split — full-screen list.
- Horizontal split — list on top, message below.
- Vertical split — list on the left, message on the right.
Light or dark mode
Click the moon icon to switch between light and dark mode. The change may take a few seconds to apply.
Sorting your email
Emails are sorted by date, newest first by default. Click any column header — Sender, Subject, Size, Date — to sort by it. Click again to reverse the order.
Show only encrypted email
Click the padlock icon to show only encrypted (“locked”) emails. Click again to show all mail.
Gmail categories
If you use Gmail, click the … menu and toggle Gmail Categories to show or hide Gmail’s inbox categories. The … menu also lets you show or hide Accounts, Account Icons, Encrypted Filter, and Message Layout.
Refresh
Click the refresh button to check for new mail immediately. Arca also refreshes automatically every 2 minutes. Change the interval in Settings (☰ menu).
Session timer
The countdown shows how long until Arca signs you out automatically. Click it to change the session length.
The main menu (☰)
The ☰ menu gives access to: Contacts, Drives, Files, Locks, Keys, Settings, Check for update, Change session time, Sign out, and Quit.
Found a problem? Use Report problem anytime — a few words plus your logs helps us fix it quickly.
Resize and reposition the window
Like any window, you can resize, reshape, and move Arca to wherever suits you. Arca remembers your choice and restores it next time.
