Shared mailboxes are useful for addresses like info@, support@, accounting@, or sales@. They let more than one person monitor the same mailbox, and replies can come from the shared address instead of an individual user’s address.
Before you start, your Microsoft 365 administrator needs to create the shared mailbox and give your account access. Shared mailboxes are not meant to be signed into directly. You open them from your own Outlook account.
The steps are slightly different depending on which version of Outlook you use. Choose your version below.
Add a shared mailbox in new Outlook
If your admin recently gave you access, close and reopen new Outlook first. The mailbox may appear automatically under Shared with me.
- Select Mail from the navigation pane.
- In the folder pane, right-click your account name.
- Select Add shared folder or mailbox.
- Enter the shared mailbox name or email address, such as info@contoso.com.
- Select the mailbox when it appears, then add it.
- Expand Shared with me to find the mailbox and its folders.
Once it's visible, you can read messages from the shared mailbox and send replies from the shared address.
Add a shared mailbox in classic Outlook
Classic Outlook often adds shared mailboxes automatically after your admin gives you access. If it does not appear after restarting Outlook, add it manually.
- Open classic Outlook.
- Select File.
- Select Account Settings, then Account Settings again.
- On the Email tab, select the correct account and choose Change.
- Select More Settings.
- Open the Advanced tab and choose Add.
- Type the shared mailbox email address, such as info@contoso.com.
- Choose OK, then OK again.
- Choose Next, Finish, and Close.
After that, the shared mailbox should appear in the folder pane whenever you open Outlook.
Add a shared mailbox in Outlook on the web
Use this option when you work in Outlook through a browser.
- Sign in to Outlook on the web with your own Microsoft 365 account.
- For Exchange Online mailboxes, right-click Folders in the left navigation pane.
- Select Add shared folder or mailbox.
- Type the shared mailbox name or email address, such as info@contoso.com.
- Select the mailbox and add it.
The shared mailbox will show in your folder list. You can expand or collapse it just like your own mailbox.
Sending from the shared mailbox
Once the shared mailbox is available in Outlook, you can send mail from it.
- Start a new message.
- If the From field is not visible, turn it on from the message options.
- Select From and choose the shared mailbox address.
- Write and send the message.
When you send this way, recipients see the shared mailbox address as the sender.
If the mailbox doesn’t appear
If access was just granted, wait a few minutes and restart Outlook. If it still doesn’t appear, confirm with your Microsoft 365 administrator that your account has permission to the shared mailbox.
If your team leans on shared mailboxes and you’d rather have someone else own the permissions side, that’s part of NDLS Microsoft 365 management.
Dealing with this at your business?
NDLS handles managed IT, Microsoft 365, cybersecurity, and backups for businesses in Orillia, Barrie, and across Ontario, so guides like this become someone else's job.