# Rook in empty states

When a list is clear, on your first day and before your first playbook, Rook is drawn in the empty space. You can turn it off in Settings.

Your own mail · Updated October 19, 2026 · https://userookery.com/help/rook-in-empty-states/

When there's nothing for you to do, the app says so plainly, and Rook is drawn in the empty space. It's a small picture, never a message or a notification: the words and the buttons beside it are the same either way.

## Where you'll see Rook

- **All caught up.** When the inbox is clear (**Inbox clear. Nothing needs you.**, and the same for one inbox, Assigned to me, Unassigned and Mentions), when Today has nothing waiting (**Enjoy the quiet**), and when nothing is waiting for your yes on **Approvals** (**All caught up**), Rook sits in the empty inbox tray. The inbox adds one line by your clock: "Then the morning is yours", or the afternoon, or the evening.
- **Your first day.** Before any mail arrives (**Your inbox is ready for mail**, Today's first page, and a new inbox with **No mail here yet**), Rook points at the list where your mail will land.
- **Sample mail on its way.** After **Try sample mail**, Rook flies the made-up emails in for the few seconds they take to arrive.
- **No playbooks yet.** On **Playbooks**, before you've written one, Rook checks its work through a magnifier: a playbook is what Rook checks each draft against.

Each one moves a little when it appears, then rests. If your device is set to reduce motion, nothing moves at all.

## Where you won't

- **Never beside anything serious.** If a page has a scam warning, a bill or an amount, a confidential label, a sign-in code or a passkey step anywhere on it, Rook isn't drawn there, and the plain drawing takes its place.
- **One at a time.** There's never more than one Rook on a page.
- **Not in your conversations.** Inside a conversation, Rook's small square face marks what Rook did, so you can always tell who did what.

## Turn it off

1. Go to **Settings → Writing and reading**.
2. Under **Rook in empty states**, clear **Show Rook in empty states**.
3. Click **Save**.

Those places show a plain drawing instead. It's only for you: your teammates keep their own setting, and it follows you to every device you sign in on.