How to access a shared mailbox, or the Inbox of an account for which you are a delegate


OVERVIEW

Target audience: McGill faculty and staff members who have access to a shared mailbox in Outlook, or who have been given "send on behalf of" permission to access the mailbox of another individual or shared mailbox. 

To view and reply to emails in a shared mailbox, you will need to add the shared mailbox to your installed Outlook application, and/or Outlook on the web. You can also access a shared mailbox from the Outlook mobile app on iOS or Android.

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Note: You may also add a shared mailbox with "Send as" permission in Outlook.

Visit the KB article for steps on how to do so, and for information about other types of mailbox permissions.

In this article:

Steps for other Outlook apps:

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Note: You cannot add a shared or delegated mailbox to Apple Mail

Use Outlook on the web, Outlook for Mac, or Outlook mobile instead

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IMPORTANT: Remove the resource account before adding the shared mailbox.

When you are adding a shared mailbox that has been migrated you must first remove the resource account from Outlook.

See the article Converting a resource account with email to a shared mailbox to learn how to remove your resource account from Outlook.

Adding a shared mailbox on Windows

Classic Outlook

To add a shared mailbox in Classic Outlook:

  1. Click File > Account Settings and choose Account settings...

    File Account Settings

  2. On the Email tab, click to highlight your existing email account and click Change....

    Change account

  3. Click More Settings...
  4. Go to the Advanced tab; click Add... and enter the email address of the account for which you have been given delegate access. Note: "On behalf of" permission is required to be able to send messages.

    enter address

  5. Enter either the email address of the shared/delegated account, or the display name (name that appears in the Global Address List) and click OK.  

    add mailbox

  6. Click Apply and wait a few moments for the change to take effect.

    click apply

  7. Click OK to close the advanced settings window; then click Next and Finish.

You should now see the new folder for that account in Outlook. Expand the folder to view the emails for that account.

New Outlook

To add a shared mailbox in New Outlook:

  1. Select Mail from the navigation pane.
  2. In the Folder pane, right-click your account name, and select Add shared folder or mailbox.

    Screenshot showing selection to Add shared folder or mailbox

  3. In the Add shared folder or mailbox window, type the name of the mailbox you want to access (e.g., name@domain.com).

You should now see the new folder for that account in Outlook. Expand the folder to view the emails for that account.

references

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

Microsoft support articles: