Opening and using shared mailbox, calendar, or contacts, in Outlook

Shared mailboxes make it easy for a specific group of people to monitor and send email from a public email alias, like info@contoso.com or contact@contoso.com. When a person in the group replies to a message sent to the shared mailbox, the email appears to be from the shared mailbox, not from the individual user. Depending on the permissions that you have to the shared mailbox, you may also be able to access the shared contacts and shared calendar that are associated with the shared mailbox.

Note:
The administrator for your organisation has to create the shared mailbox and add you to the group of users before you can use it.

When you have full-access permission to a shared mailbox that appears in the address book, then the shared mailbox is automatically available in your Outlook 2013 Folder pane. If you have limited access to a shared mailbox then it will not appear automatically in your Folder pane, and you must put it there.

Note:
A Microsoft Exchange Server account is required to use the shared mailbox feature.

This article explains how to:

• Access a shared mailbox
• Open a shared calendar associated with a shared mailbox
• Open a shared contact list associated with a shared mailbox

Note:
To open a shared mailbox using the web version of Outlook, please refer to, KB0011032,  Open and use a shared mailbox in Outlook on the web.

Accessing a shared mailbox

Accessing a shared mailbox is slightly different depending on whether or not you have full access to the shared mailbox.

Shared mailbox with full access

If you have permissions to a shared mailbox created by your administrator, and you have been allocated "full access", then the shared mailbox will automatically display in your Folder pane in Outlook.

Note:
If your administrator has only recently provided you access to a shared mailbox, it may take a short time before the shared mailbox automatically appears in your Outlook profile. If the shared mailbox does not automatically display in Outlook, you may need to restart Outlook to see the shared mailbox.

Shared mailbox, without full access

If you have permissions to a shared mailbox, but have not been granted full access, then the shared mailbox will not automap to appear in your Outlook Folder pane. In this case, to access the shared mailbox, proceed as follows.

1. Open Outlook.
2. Click the File tab.

The Account Information page opens.

3. Click Account Settings and, from the drop-down options, select Account Settings.

The Account Settings dialogue box opens.

4. Click Change.

The Change Account: Server Settings dialogue box opens.

5. Click More Settings.

The Microsoft Exchange dialogue box opens.

6. Click the Advanced tab.

The Advanced tab opens.

7. Click Add, to open an additional mailbox.

The Add Mailbox dialogue box opens.

8. In the Add mailbox text box, type the address of the shared mailbox you would like to access.
9. Click OK.

The mailbox name appears in the list of mailboxes on the Microsoft Exchange dialogue box.

10. Click OK, then close any open dialogue boxes.

Return to your Outlook Home tab, and you will see the new mailbox added to the Folder pane.

Opening a shared calendar associated with a shared mailbox

If you have permissions to a shared mailbox, then the shared calendar associated with the shared mailbox is added to your Shared Calendars list in the Calendar Folder pane.

To access the shared calendar, proceed as follows.

1. In Outlook, from the options at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, click Calendar.

Your calendar page is displayed in the main display area, with a Folder pane to the left hand side.

The required shared calendar name should be displayed in the Folder pane, under Shared Calendars, and beneath your own primary calendar name.

2. If the shared calendar name is displayed in the Folder pane, then disregard Step 3 to Step 6 and go directly to Step 7. If the shared calendar name is not displayed, then proceed as follows.
3. In the Folder pane, locate and right click Shared Calendars.

4. From the menu options, click Add Calendar, then Open Shared Calendar.

5. The Open a Shared Calendar dialogue box appears.

6. Type in the name of the shared calendar, then click OK.

The shared calendar name appears in the Folder pane.

7. To access the shared calendar simply tick the required checkbox under Shared Calendars, and untick the checkbox for your primary calendar.

The shared calendar is displayed.

Opening a shared contact list associated with a shared mailbox

If you have permissions to a shared mailbox, then the shared contact list associated with the shared mailbox is automatically added to your My Contacts list.

To access the shared contacts list, proceed as follows.

1. In Outlook, from the options at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, click People.

Your contacts page is displayed in the main display area, with a folder pane containing My Contacts to the left hand side. The shared contacts list name displays under My Contacts.

2. To access the shared contacts list, simply click on the list name under My Contacts.

The shared contacts are displayed in the main display area.