How to Set up a Shared Mailbox in Office 365 Admin Center

A shared mailbox enables people to have access to a common mailbox. They can view or send emails on behalf of a common email address, such as [email protected]

In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to create a shared mailbox and add members.

Set up a Shared Mailbox

1. Log on to Microsoft Office 365 Admin Portal using your Global Administrator or Exchange Administrator Account

2. Navigate to the ‘Groups’ menu tab and then choose ‘Shared Mailboxes’.

3. On the ‘Shared Mailboxes’ page, choose ‘Add Mailbox’.

4. The ‘Add a mailbox’ page will open, enter the mailbox name. The email address is automatically filled but you can change it to your choice. Once done, click Add to create the shared mailbox.

5. Under Next Steps, click Add Members to this mailbox in order to open the Add Members page.

6. Click the + Add Members Search or tick the people that you would want to have access to the mailbox and then click ‘Save’.

7. Click Close. A mailbox has been created and shared. It also includes a shared calendar.

Please note that responses (sent items) from the mailbox are not automatically saved in the sent items folder of the mailbox but are stored under the user’s sent items folder. In order to enable sent items to be saved in the shared mailbox, you will need to perform the following easy steps:

8. Open the shared mailbox properties. On Sent items, choose Edit.

9. Enable the options to Copy items sent as this mailbox and to Copy items sent on behalf of this mailbox then choose Save.

10. Permissions to Read and manage, and send as the Shared mailbox or on behalf of the mailbox can also be assigned under Members then choose Customize Permissions.

11. Specify the permissions accordingly.

12. A shared mailbox can be opened in Microsoft Outlook by restarting the Outlook App. It will show up as your normal mailboxes. To view it, Click the ‘Mail’ tab in Outlook and expand your newly created shared mailbox.

13. By creating assigning a shared mailbox to a user, a shared calendar is also created for that mailbox. To view it, choose the ‘Calendar’ tab. Appointments made on that calendar will now be visible.

14. Alternatively, a shared mailbox can also be viewed and managed using the Outlook Web App (OWA). From your Account tab, choose’ Open another mailbox’.

15. Search the mailbox name or email address. Click ‘Open’, once you have selected the shared mailbox that you want to open.

16. You have successfully opened the shared mailbox. It can be viewed in another browser tab.

Things to remember about shared mailboxes

• You can also set forwarding of emails for emails sent to your shared mailbox
• A shared mailbox does not require an Office 365 license if it’s below 50GB. However, users that are assigned access to the shared mailbox must have an active license and must be within your organization.
• One cannot access a shared mailbox from the Outlook for iPhone or Android App. To access it from any of these devices, you will have to use the browser and access via the OWA.
• You cannot log in with the shared mailbox account.