Create a work item from an email

Open i-ODO on the email (see Getting started). If the email already has a work item, i-ODO shows it first; select Create another work item from this email to make a new one.

Check the details

Type: starts as your default type. Pick another, such as Bug or Task, for this email.
Title: taken from the email's subject. Edit it as you like, up to 255 characters.
Sprint: starts at your team's current sprint. Pick a later sprint, or No sprint (backlog).
Tags: starts with your default tags. Type to pick from the project's existing tags, or press Enter to add a new one.
Assigned to: starts as you. Pick a team member, or Unassigned.
Parent: optional. Type an ID or words from a title to find an open item at the next backlog level up, such as a Feature for a Product Backlog Item.
Other required fields: if your process makes extra fields required, i-ODO asks for them here.

Choose attachments

Under Attach, everything is ticked to start with:

Original email (.eml): an exact copy of the email, which opens in Outlook.
The email's attachments: files, attached emails and calendar items. Cloud attachments, such as OneDrive links, are added as links.

Untick anything you don't want. Azure DevOps accepts files up to 60 MB each; larger ones can't be ticked.

Track the conversation (optional)

Tick Track all future messages in this conversation to have later replies added to the work item. See Track a conversation.

Create

Select the Create button, which names the type (for example Create Product Backlog Item). i-ODO tells you the new item's number, what was attached, and gives you a link to open it in Azure DevOps.

What goes into the work item

The email goes into the Description, or into Repro Steps for a Bug, with its formatting and inline images, under a short From, Sent and To header.
Images that the sender's server hosts (rather than sends with the email) are left out, so the work item doesn't load content from outside. The .eml keeps the exact original.
The work item goes into your team's area, so it appears on your team's backlog.
A first comment, starting with [Tracking], records the email's identifiers. That's how i-ODO finds the work item from the email later, for you and for colleagues who have the email. i-ODO hides this comment in its pane.