How to Add a Shared Mailbox in Outlook (Every Version)

To add a shared mailbox in Outlook, your Microsoft 365 admin first has to give you access. After that, in most cases you only need to close and reopen Outlook and it appears in your folder list on its own. If it does not, you add it by hand, and the steps depend on which Outlook you use: new Outlook, classic Outlook, Outlook on the web, Mac, or mobile.

This guide covers all five, taken from Microsoft's own support pages, plus how to send from the shared address, how to fix a mailbox that will not show up, and when a shared mailbox is the wrong tool. If you are comparing a shared mailbox with dedicated shared inbox software, see our shared inbox tools comparison.

Before you start: the admin steps

A shared mailbox is created and shared by a Microsoft 365 admin, not by the people who use it. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, the admin goes to Teams & Groups, then Shared mailboxes, selects + Add a shared mailbox, names it, then under Next steps selects Add members to this mailbox (Microsoft Learn, Create a shared mailbox).

Three permissions decide what each member can do:

Microsoft's own note: Full Access and Send As are both needed "for successful shared mailbox operation."

How to add a shared mailbox in new Outlook for Windows

Automatically: once your admin has added you, close and restart new Outlook. The shared mailbox should appear in your folder pane.

Manually, if it does not appear:

1. Select Mail in the navigation pane.
2. Right-click your account name and choose Add shared folder or mailbox.
3. Type the shared mailbox's name or address, such as info@yourcompany.com, and confirm.

Source: Microsoft Support, Open and use a shared mailbox in Outlook.

How to add a shared mailbox in classic Outlook for Windows

Automatically: with automapping, the shared mailbox appears in your folder pane after you restart Outlook.

Manually, if automapping did not add it:

1. Select File, then Account Settings, then Account Settings.
2. On the Email tab, select your account and choose Change.
3. Select More Settings, open the Advanced tab, and choose Add.
4. Type the shared email address.
5. Select OK, OK, Next, Finish, then Close.

How to add a shared mailbox in Outlook on the web

1. In the left pane, right-click Folders (or your mailbox name, on Exchange on-premises).
2. Choose Add shared folder or mailbox.
3. Type the shared mailbox name and confirm.

Outlook on the web is also the quickest way to check whether your access works at all: if the mailbox opens here, the permissions are fine and any problem is in the desktop app.

How to add a shared mailbox in Outlook for Mac

Outlook for Mac does not support automapping, so Mac users always add the mailbox themselves (Microsoft Support, Open a shared folder or mailbox in Outlook for Mac).

New Outlook for Mac:

1. Go to Tools, then Accounts, and select the account that has access.
2. Choose Delegation and Sharing, then the Shared With Me tab.
3. Select + and add the shared mailbox.

Or use File, then Open, then Shared Mailbox.

Legacy Outlook for Mac: go to Tools, Accounts, Advanced, Delegates, and add the mailbox under Open these additional mailboxes.

How to add a shared mailbox in Outlook for iPhone and Android

1. Sign in to your own work account in the Outlook app.
2. Tap Add Account in the left pane, then Add a Shared Mailbox.
3. If you have several accounts, pick the one that has access to the shared mailbox.
4. Finish the setup. The shared mailbox appears in your account list.

Both your mailbox and the shared mailbox must be in Exchange Online (Microsoft Support, Add a shared mailbox to Outlook mobile). Microsoft notes that a shared mailbox can only be added in the Outlook app on mobile, not in other mail apps.

How to send from a shared mailbox

New Outlook and classic Outlook: start a new email. If the From field is hidden, open Options and choose Show From. Select the From dropdown and pick the shared address.

Outlook on the web: start a new email, choose More actions, then Show From. Right-click the address in From, choose Remove, and type the shared address.

Recipients see only the shared address when you have Send As permission. With Send on Behalf, they see your name "on behalf of" the shared mailbox.

Where the sent email is saved: by default, a message sent from a shared mailbox is saved in your own Sent Items, not the shared mailbox's, so teammates cannot see the reply there. An admin can change this so a copy is also kept in the shared mailbox's Sent Items (Microsoft Learn, Messages sent from a shared mailbox aren't saved to the Sent Items folder).

Shared mailbox not showing in Outlook? Six causes

1. You were added a few minutes ago. Microsoft says a newly added mailbox "may take a few minutes" to appear. Close Outlook fully, wait, and reopen it.
2. Access was granted through a security group. Automapping is set per user, so "if you try to use a security group to manage who has access to the shared mailbox, automapping won't work" (Microsoft Learn). Add it manually, or ask your admin to grant access to you directly.
3. You are on a Mac. No automapping; use the Mac steps above.
4. Automapping was turned off for you. Some admins disable it deliberately. Add the mailbox manually.
5. You can open it but cannot send. A new mailbox can show "You do not have the permission to send the message on behalf of the specified user" for about an hour while the change replicates across Microsoft's data centers (Microsoft Learn, About shared mailboxes). If it persists, ask your admin for Send As permission.
6. Send As fails in the desktop app only. Send As and Send on Behalf do not work in desktop Outlook if the mailbox is hidden from the address list. That is an admin setting to change.

How to remove a shared mailbox from Outlook

• Added manually in classic Outlook: go back to File, Account Settings, Account Settings, Change, More Settings, Advanced, and remove it.
• On mobile: Settings, Accounts, tap the shared mailbox, and choose Delete Account.
• Added automatically: it will reappear on the next restart until your admin removes your access or turns off automapping for you. Microsoft documents how in Remove automapping for a shared mailbox.

Shared mailbox vs distribution list

Use a shared mailbox when a team answers mail together. Use a distribution list when everyone just needs to receive a copy.

How to create a distribution list in Outlook

"Distribution list" covers two different things in Outlook, and the steps depend on which one you need:

• A personal contact list (called a contact group in classic Outlook) lives in your own contacts. You type its name in the To line and Outlook expands it into the member addresses. Only you use it.
• An organization distribution list has its own email address, such as sales@yourcompany.com, that anyone can write to. A Microsoft 365 admin creates it.

A personal contact list in new Outlook and Outlook on the web

1. Select People in the side panel.
2. Select a contact you want on the list.
3. Choose Add to list (right-click or use the ribbon), then New contact list.

After that, you can rename the list, add more contacts and add a description. Microsoft notes that in new Outlook, "Contact Lists" are what classic Outlook called "Contact Groups."

A contact group in classic Outlook

1. Select People in the side panel.
2. Choose New Contact Group from the ribbon.
3. Enter a Name for the group, then select Add Members.
4. Select Save & Close.

Source: Microsoft Support, Create a contact group or distribution list in Outlook.

An organization distribution list (admin)

In the Microsoft 365 admin center (Microsoft Learn, Create distribution lists):

1. Select Show all, then Teams and groups, then Active teams and groups.
2. Open the Distribution list tab and select + Add a distribution list.
3. Enter a name and description, then select Next.
4. Assign owners, who manage the group and its members, then select Next.
5. Add members, then select Next.
6. On Edit settings, enter the group email address. If customers or suppliers need to email it, also select Allow people outside of my organization to send email to this Distribution group.
7. Review the details and select Create group.

Distribution list, Microsoft 365 group or shared mailbox?

Microsoft's comparison of group types draws the lines this way:

For an address that customers write to and a team answers, the shared mailbox is the usual choice, and the rest of this guide applies. If that team keeps colliding on replies, see shared inbox tools for Outlook.

Know the limits before your team relies on one

From Microsoft's own documentation (About shared mailboxes):

• 25 users maximum. Beyond that, or with heavy simultaneous use, people "might experience connection failures or duplicated messages."
• 50 GB without a license. Past that, or for archiving or litigation hold, it needs an Exchange Online Plan 2 license (or Plan 1 with Exchange Online Archiving).
• No way to stop members deleting messages.
• Email sent from a shared mailbox cannot be encrypted.
• No external users. People outside your organization cannot be given access.

The bigger limit is not on that list: a shared mailbox gives access, but it does not show when a colleague is already replying, assign messages, or track what is still open. When two people answer the same customer, that is the sign you have outgrown it. Our guides to shared inbox tools for Outlook and shared inbox vs help desk cover what comes next, and shared mailbox auto-reply covers acknowledging every message to the shared address.

Related reading

• Best shared inbox for Outlook: tools that add assignment and collision detection on top of Microsoft 365.
• Shared mailbox auto-reply: setting up automatic replies on a team address.
• How to automate emails in Outlook: rules, Quick Steps and Power Automate for Microsoft 365.
• Shared inbox vs help desk: the signs a team has outgrown shared email.

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Steps and limits quoted from Microsoft Support and Microsoft Learn pages checked on 2026-09-23. Microsoft changes Outlook's menus often, especially in new Outlook. InboxPilot is the publisher of this guide.