Office 365: Outlook Web and Shared Mailboxes
A shared mailbox in Microsoft 365 allows multiple people to manage a single email address — for example office@company.pl — without creating additional accounts for anyone or paying for extra licenses. It works well in customer service, project teams and secretarial departments. Below we show you how to create it, assign permissions and start using it in Outlook.
The following steps apply to the current Microsoft 365 Admin Center (formerly Office 365):
1.
Sign In with an Administrator Account
To add a shared mailbox, you need administrator permissions in Microsoft 365 (Global Administrator or Exchange Administrator role).
2.
Go to Microsoft 365 admin center
There you will find options for managing users and mailboxes.
3.
Create a Shared Mailbox
a. In the Admin Centre, navigate to the "Teams & groups" section.
b. Select "Shared mailboxes".
c. Click "Add a shared mailbox" or "New shared mailbox" to begin the process of creating a new mailbox.
Steps to create a shared mailbox
4.
Fill In the Required Information
a. Enter a name for the shared mailbox.
b. Enter an email address for the mailbox. Ensure it is unique within your domain.
Setting the name and address
5.
Assign Permissions to Users
After creating the shared mailbox, you need to assign permissions to users.
1. You can do this by selecting "Add members to this shared mailbox".
2. Going to "Managing shared mailbox details" you can edit the mailbox name and assign new members.
Permission management options
6.
Complete the Process
After adding users and setting permissions, save your changes. The shared mailbox is now ready to use.
Users who have been granted permissions to the shared mailbox will be able to access it through their standard Outlook account or another email application that supports Office 365. It is important to note that shared mailboxes do not have their own login passwords; access is controlled by the permissions assigned to individual users.
Why use shared mailboxes
1.
Collaboration and document access control
A shared mailbox allows several people to work on the same messages, files and calendar without sharing login and password. You can give one person read-only access, and another — full editing and sending on behalf of the mailbox, and change it at any time from the Admin Center.
2.
Access from every device
The mailbox works the same way in Outlook on your computer, phone, and in a browser — you don't need to install or configure anything additionally separately on each device.
3.
Capacity up to 100 GB
A shared mailbox without an assigned license has a default 50 GB of space; after assigning an Exchange Online Plan 2 license it grows to 100 GB — more than a standard employee mailbox.
4.
No separate password to steal
A shared mailbox doesn't have its own login or password — access works exclusively through an employee account that already exists. That's one fewer password vulnerable to phishing or data breaches, and one fewer user to remove when someone leaves the company.
If after configuration the mailbox doesn't send mail correctly or permissions don't work as they should, it's usually an issue with Exchange Online settings, not Outlook itself. CLOUDPANIC helps you configure this once, correctly — including forwarding rules and distribution groups, if your company needs them.
