What a shared inbox is and why you'd use one
A shared inbox in Outlook is an email account that multiple people can access and manage together. Instead of forwarding messages to each other or copying the same address on every email, everyone on the team sees the same inbox, drafts, and sent items. One person might start a reply, another might finish it, and a third can send it — all from the same mailbox.
Shared inboxes work best for team email addresses like support@company.com, info@department.gov, or hiring@nonprofit.org. They cut down on duplicate replies, make sure nothing falls through the cracks, and let people cover for each other without needing passwords.
Key Takeaways
- Your Outlook administrator must first create the shared mailbox in Microsoft 365 admin center and give you permission to access it.
- Once you have permission, you add the shared inbox to Outlook by opening File, selecting Account Settings, and choosing Add Account.
- The shared inbox will appear as a separate folder in your Outlook sidebar once you complete the setup, and you can send emails from it directly.
- You need the shared mailbox email address and your own Microsoft 365 credentials to add it — you do not need a separate password for the shared account.
- If the shared inbox does not appear after you add it, restart Outlook or wait a few minutes for permissions to sync across Microsoft's servers.
Check that your administrator has set up the shared mailbox
Before you can add a shared inbox to Outlook, someone with admin rights must create it in Microsoft 365 admin center and grant you permission. This is not something you can do yourself from your own Outlook window.
Ask your IT department or administrator whether the shared mailbox has been created and whether your account has been added to it. They will need to know the email address of the shared inbox (like support@company.com) and confirm that your user account has "Full Access" permission. Without that permission, Outlook will not let you add it.
If you are the administrator, you can create the shared mailbox yourself by going to microsoft365.com, signing in, opening the admin center, navigating to Resources, then Mailboxes, and clicking Create Shared Mailbox. You will then need to add each person who should have access.
Open the Add Account window in Outlook
Once your administrator has given you permission, open Outlook on your computer. Click the File menu in the top left corner of the window.
In the File menu, look for Account Settings and click the small arrow next to it to open a submenu. Select Account Settings again from that submenu — this opens a new window showing all the email accounts currently connected to Outlook.
In the Account Settings window, click the New button near the top. This starts the process of adding another mailbox to your Outlook profile.
Enter the shared mailbox email address
Outlook will ask you to choose how you want to add the account. Select the option that says "Microsoft 365" or "Exchange" — do not choose "Other Email Accounts" or "IMAP/POP". The shared mailbox is hosted on Microsoft's servers, so you need the Microsoft 365 path.
When prompted, enter the email address of the shared mailbox (for example, support@company.com). Do not enter your own email address — Outlook needs the shared mailbox address to know which mailbox to connect to.
Click Next. Outlook will ask for your password. Enter your own password here, not a password for the shared mailbox. Outlook uses your credentials to verify that you have permission to access the shared mailbox.
Complete the setup and wait for the mailbox to appear
After you enter your password, Outlook will connect to Microsoft's servers and confirm that you have access. This usually takes a few seconds, but can take up to a minute. Do not close Outlook during this step.
Once the connection is confirmed, click Finish. The window will close and you will return to Outlook. The shared mailbox should now appear in your folder list on the left side of the screen, below your own inbox. It will show the shared mailbox email address as the folder name.
If the shared mailbox does not appear right away, wait a few minutes — sometimes permissions take time to sync across Microsoft's network. If it still does not show after five minutes, close Outlook completely and open it again. Restarting Outlook often forces it to refresh and pick up the new mailbox.
Send and receive emails from the shared inbox
Once the shared mailbox appears in your folder list, you can use it like any other inbox. Click on it to see all the messages in that mailbox. You can read, reply to, and forward emails just as you would in your own inbox.
To send a new email from the shared mailbox, click New Email as usual. Before you send, look at the From field at the top of the message. Click on it and select the shared mailbox email address instead of your own. This tells Outlook to send the message from the shared account, not from your personal email.
Everyone else who has access to the shared mailbox will see your reply or new message in their copy of that inbox. They will see your name as the sender, so people know who wrote it, but the email comes from the shared address.
Troubleshoot if the shared mailbox will not appear
If you completed all the steps but the shared mailbox still does not show up, the most common cause is that your administrator has not finished granting you permission. Ask them to double-check that your user account has "Full Access" to the shared mailbox in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Sometimes it takes 15 to 30 minutes for new permissions to take effect.
Another common issue is that Outlook is using cached credentials — old login information stored on your computer. If you recently changed your password, Outlook might still be trying to use the old one. Go back to File > Account Settings, find your main email account in the list, click it, click Change, and re-enter your current password. Then try adding the shared mailbox again.
If you are using Outlook on the web instead of the desktop app, the shared mailbox should appear automatically in your folder list without any setup steps. If it does not, refresh the page or sign out and sign back in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a separate password for the shared mailbox?
No. You use your own Microsoft 365 password to access the shared mailbox. Outlook verifies that you have permission to open it, then lets you in. The shared mailbox itself does not have a password that you need to know.
Can I set up an out-of-office message for the shared inbox?
Yes, but it applies to your personal account, not the shared mailbox. If you want an out-of-office message that applies only when people email the shared address, you will need to set up an automatic reply rule in Outlook or ask your administrator to configure one in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
What happens if I delete an email from the shared inbox?
It is deleted for everyone who has access to that mailbox. There is no separate trash folder per person — the shared inbox is truly shared. If you accidentally delete something, ask your administrator whether they can recover it from the mailbox recovery settings.
Can I add the shared inbox to my phone?
Yes. On iPhone or Android, open the Outlook mobile app, go to Settings, tap Add Account, choose Microsoft 365, and enter the shared mailbox email address and your password. The shared inbox will then appear in your mobile Outlook alongside your personal inbox.
Why does the shared inbox show a different name than the email address?
Outlook sometimes displays the display name set by your administrator instead of the email address. Both refer to the same mailbox. If you are unsure whether you are looking at the right one, click on the folder and check the email address shown in the folder properties or in the From field when you compose a message.