How to Add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook?

Summary: When you set up Office 365, it often includes shared mailboxes automatically. Shared mailboxes are useful for teams to access and manage emails collectively. However, sometimes this automatic process fails. In that case, if you want to add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook, this guide is for you. Here, we will introduce you to the different procedures for adding shared mailbox to Outlook. Furthermore, if you also want to backup your shared mailboxes, read about the Office 365 Email Backup Tool at the end.

Shared Mailboxes and Its Characteristics

Let us begin the blog by knowing what are Shared Mailboxes. When multiple users or an entire team can collectively access and use the same mailbox or a single email ID for sending and receiving emails, it is called a Shared Mailbox. This is common in organizations where multiple people or departments need to collaborate on managing emails. Before you add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook, know more about its characteristics:

• Multiple users can open, view, send, and reply to emails in the same mailbox.
• Centralized communication for all team members and managing emails.
• Associated with a user account and access permissions are granted to users.
• Administrators set permissions to control actions in the shared mailbox.
• Users can access shared mailboxes alongside personal mailboxes but save emails separately.

Thus, adding a shared mailbox to Outlook facilitates well-organized communication and team collaboration.

Moving further, to know why users need a shared mailbox. In the following section of the blog, we will discuss how shared mailbox benefits users and streamlines workflow.

Need to Add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook

At first, you may wonder why users need one if a personal mailbox works just like a shared mailbox. However, there are several advantages why users tend to add a shared mailbox in Outlook. Such as:

• Works as a central point of communication for those not in a single company.
• Additional benefits include a Shared contact list and a Shared Calendar.
• Only one copy of an email is stored, thus reducing unnecessary clutter.
• A separate mailbox provides extra storage space and enhances productivity.
• Personal login credentials and inboxes remain confidential and secure.
• It ensures transparency among team members and prevents duplicate and missed emails.

Now, that you know all about shared mailboxes, let’s move toward how to add a shared Mailbox in MS Outlook. Before starting the procedure, you must be careful about some preconditions discussed below.

Prerequisites for Adding Shared Mailbox to Outlook

If you are using Outlook 2013, 2016, or 2019, meet the following essential requirements and Shared Mailbox appears automatically:

• The shared mailbox must be set up and accessible in Microsoft 365.
• MS Outlook should be configured with your Microsoft 365 account.
• You must have access to the shared mailbox by the administrator.
• External access can only be granted to a configured shared mailbox.
• A Shared mailbox should be linked with an email address and a display name.

Once these conditions are satisfied, you can add Shared Mailbox in MS Outlook. After your administrator includes you in the shared mailbox, close and reopen MS Outlook. Upon restarting Outlook, the shared mailbox may appear in your folder below the primary mailbox. Possibly, it may take some time to appear in the folder pane. If it does not appear, do it manually.

Manual Method to Add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook

Follow these steps as instructed below:

1. Open MS Outlook and navigate to the File tab.
2. Select Account Settings, dropdown menu opens. Choose Account Settings.
3. Click on the Email tab and confirm if the correct account is highlighted.
4. Next, select your email account and click on Change.
5. A new tab will open. Click on More Settings.
6. Go to Advanced > click Add to add shared mailbox in MS Outlook.
7. Enter the shared email address to which the administrator has given you access, then click OK.
8. Proceed by clicking as instructed: Next > Finish > Close.

The shared mailbox will now be visible in your MS Outlook, below the primary mailbox. You and other team members can now send and receive emails using this mailbox. However, this process is viable only if you are using Outlook on Windows.

For Mac User

To add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook on Mac, perform the following procedure below:

1. Open Outlook for Mac > click on the Tools option.
2. Next, select Accounts and choose your email address.
3. Click on Advanced and go to the Delegates tab.
4. In the Open these additional mailboxes section, click on the “+” icon.
5. Enter the email address linked to your shared mailbox.
6. Choose the Add option and click OK.
7. Close the Accounts window.
8. If you receive any message regarding Outlook being redirected to the server, click on Allow.

So, this is how you can add Shared Mailbox in MS Outlook. You can also opt for the alternative procedure in the following sections.

Alternative Method-Add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook

Follow these steps in Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019, or 2021:

1. Properly close Outlook. Make sure no Outlook windows are open.
2. Open Run Window (Press Windows + R keys) and type Control Panel > OK.
3. Within the Control Panel, click on User Accounts > Mail.
4. Next, click on the Email Accounts button.
5. Under the Email tab, click on the New button.
6. Enter the shared mailbox email address that you wish to add. Click Next.
7. Now, provide the account username and password for the shared mailbox. Click Login.
8. After a few moments, Congratulations! a message will appear adding shared mailbox to Outlook. Click Finish.

You can now launch Outlook to access and view the mail items of the shared mailbox in the left pane.

Now, that you have successfully added the shared mailbox to Outlook, let’s check if you can perform any action in it or not.

Sending Emails from a Shared Mailbox in Outlook

After you add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook, you can access and send emails with the administrator’s permission. Nevertheless, you can encounter issues while trying to send emails from a shared mailbox in Office 365. Therefore, it is important to know the correct procedure. Let’s go through the steps:

• Open Microsoft Outlook. Select New Email from the folder list.
• After that, a new message window will appear on your screen.
• Click the … symbol at the top of the message to select Show From.
• Provide the shared mailbox address in the From section drop-down list (Only If this is your first time using the shared mailbox):
• Right-click on From and then click on Remove. Enter the shared mailbox email address. (Note: Next time you send an email from the shared mailbox, it will appear in the From drop-down menu.)

• Add the recipient’s email address from your contact list or the company’s address list.
• Later, enter the subject of the email, and compose the message you want to send.
• Once you have finished, click on Send.

Further, whenever you send an email through a shared mailbox, you will see the shared mailbox address in the From drop-down list.

Why Isn’t My Shared Mailbox Showing Up in Outlook?

However, after successfully adding shared mailbox to Outlook, users encounter issues like Office 365 Shared Mailbox Not Showing in Outlook. This is because the emails in the shared mailbox are stored in the same OST file on your local computer. As the OST file grows larger, you may encounter performance issues and errors in Outlook. Further, it prevents you from accessing your email account and shared mailbox.

In that case, it is recommended to create a backup of the OST file and then recreate it. Creating a backup while you try to resolve the error, protects your shared mailbox data. So, wondering, how to backup the OST file. So, here is a quick solution.

Secure Way to Backup Shared Mailbox Data

After going through the steps to add a shared mailbox in new Outlook, are you ready for the lengthy backup process? Don’t worry, we have a quick and easiest alternative for the extensive manual process. Download the DRS Office 365 Email Backup Tool for the quickest solution to backup shared mailbox data. You can also use it to restore shared mailbox data to Office 365. It is a robust tool for all technical and non-technical users. Moreover, it has many features that help you to get accurate and precise backup results.

Furthermore, use DRS OST to PST Converter to convert the backup OST file to a PST file. Thus, you can restore the missing mail item safely to your existing Office 365 account.

Conclusion

Hence, to easily add a Shared Mailbox in New Outlook, firstly, you need to have the necessary admin permissions. You follow the mentioned steps in Outlook versions 2013, 2016, 2019, and, 2021. Furthermore, you can use the suggested tool to backup Office 365 data and fix any issue related to Shared Mailbox. Hope, you find this blog helpful.