How to create a shared mailbox

  • Last update on September 29th, 2023

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A shared mailbox is a mailbox that multiple users can utilize to read and send email messages. It doesn't possess its own username and password, so users can't log into it directly. To access a shared mailbox, users must first be granted “Send As” or “Full Access” permissions to the mailbox. Once this is done, users can sign into their own mailboxes and then access the shared mailbox by adding it to their Outlook profile.

In addition, shared mailboxes can be used to provide a communal calendar, allowing multiple users to schedule and view items such as vacation time or work shifts.

Why should I set up a shared mailbox?

A shared mailbox offers a number of advantages:

  • It provides a generic email address (for example, info@contoso.com or sales@contoso.com), that customers can use to inquire about your company.
  • It allows departments that provide centralized services to employees (for example, help desk, human resources, or printing services), to respond to employee questions.
  • It allows multiple users to monitor and reply to emails sent to an email address (for example, an address used specifically by the help desk).

How do I set up a shared mailbox?

Here are three methods for creating a shared mailbox:

1. Creating shared mailboxes in the Exchange Admin Center

Before you can perform this procedure or related procedures, you need to be assigned the necessary permissions. To see which permissions you require, please refer to the “User mailboxes” entry in the Recipients permissions topic.

  1. Go to Recipients > Shared > Add.
  2. Fill in the required fields:
    • Display name
    • Email address
  3. To grant “Full Access” or “Send As” permissions, click “Add”, and then select the users you want to grant permissions to. You can use the CTRL key to select multiple users.
  4.  Save your changes and create the shared mailbox.

2. Creating a shared mailbox in PowerShell

#Create Shared Mailbox cmdlets
New-Mailbox
Set-Mailbox
Add-MailboxPermission

Example:

#Create Shared Mailbox Example
New-Mailbox -Shared -Name "Sales Department" -DisplayName "Sales Department" -Alias Sales
Set-Mailbox -Identity Sales -GrantSendOnBehalfTo MarketingSG
Add-MailboxPermission -Identity Sales -User MarketingSG -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All

This example creates the shared mailbox “Sales Department” and grants “Full Access” and “Send on Behalf” permissions for the security group “MarketingSG”. Users who are members of the security group will be granted access to the mailbox.

This example assumes that you've already created a mail-enabled security group named “MarketingSG” by using the New-DistributionGroup cmdlet. For more information, please refer to Use PowerShell to create a Shared Mailbox.

You can use the following permissions with a shared mailbox:

  • Full Access: this permission lets a user log into the shared mailbox and act as the owner of that mailbox. While logged in, the user can create calendar items; read, view, delete, and change email messages; create tasks and calendar contacts. However, a user with Full Access permission can't send email from the shared mailbox unless they also have “Send As” or “Send on Behalf” permission.
  • Send As: this permission lets a user impersonate the shared mailbox when sending mail. For example, if Jack logs into the shared mailbox “Marketing Department” and sends an email, it will appear as though the email was sent by the Marketing Department.
  • Send on Behalf: this permission lets a user send an email on behalf of the shared mailbox. For example, if John logs into the shared mailbox “Reception Building 32” and sends an email, it will appear as though the mail was sent by “John on behalf of Reception Building 32”. The EAC cannot be used to grant “Send on Behalf” permissions; instead, use the Set-Mailbox cmdlet with the GrantSendonBehalf parameter. 
    For more details, please refer to the following link: Permission to use for Shared Mailbox.

Please refer to the following MSDN article to learn how to add the shared mailbox in your Outlook: Add Shared Mailbox in Outlook

2. Creating a shared mailbox in CoreView

Follow these steps to create a shared Mailbox using CoreView:

  1. Go to CoreView Portal.
  2. Search for “Shared Mailbox” in the search bar at the top of the page.
    As an alternative, go to ACTIONS > Management actions > Mailbox > “Create Shared Mailbox”.
  3. Complete all the details to finish creating the shared mailbox.
  4. In the “Delegation” tab, add users who will have access to the shared mailbox. 

Please note that users added under “Delegation” will be granted both “Full Access” and “Send As” access rights.

 

Operators will only be able to view and manage mailboxes that fall within their defined V-Tenant scope.

 

With CoreSuite, you can manage every aspect of mailbox permissions, as well as easily create, manage, monitor, and delete mailbox objects and their configurations, all within the scope of your V-Tenant.

CoreSuite is an advanced Microsoft 365 tool offered by CoreView, used for reporting, managing, monitoring, auditing, and automating activities on your tenant. It simplifies daily activities while ensuring safer and more compliant management through tenant delegation, granular permission control, license optimization, and workflow automation.

Visit our website for more information.

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