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Summary: A Shared Mailbox in Office 365 facilitates collaborative email management for teams, streamlining communication. This article outlines the steps to create one in Office 365 Admin Center or via PowerShell. Shared mailboxes enhance productivity by allowing multiple users to send, receive, and manage emails collectively. Additionally, they offer shared calendars for efficient scheduling. To ensure data security, it’s crucial to back up Office 365 mailboxes, including shared ones, using tools like Kernel Office 365 Backup and Restore.

Each employee receives a professional email account to communicate effectively with clients and team members, ensuring sender and receiver identities. However, certain email accounts, such as complaint@business.com, info@business.com, contact@business.com, serve distinct purposes.

These email IDs receive a high volume of messages, making it impractical for a single person to manage. To handle this, multiple users collaborate. In Exchange Server or Exchange Online, these shared email IDs are called Shared mailboxes, allowing several users to send and receive emails. A key advantage is that when a user responds to an email, the recipient sees it as from the shared mailbox, not the individual user’s. Experts also recommend to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST, including Shared mailboxes, for enhanced data security against potential malicious attacks.

Additionally, a shared mailbox includes a shared calendar that permits each member to add their appointments. This feature simplifies scheduling meetings with team members; you can easily check the calendar to find suitable time slots when they are available.

Let’s see the step-by-step process of how to create a shared mailbox in Office 365 and add members to it.

What is a Shared Mailbox in Office 365?

In Microsoft 365, a Shared Mailbox is an email account shared among multiple users, enabling them to collectively send, receive, and manage email traffic using a shared email address, such as info@company.com. Typically, these mailboxes are established for teams engaged in similar operations, like sales, support, or reception services.

How to Create a Shared Mailbox in Office 365

Creating a shared mailbox in Office 365 can be a complex process without the right guidance. To establish a shared mailbox and add members to it seamlessly, follow the steps outlined below.

Create a Shared Mailbox in Office 365 Admin Center

Using this simple procedure, you can effortlessly create a Shared Mailbox using the Microsoft 365 Admin Center-

Step-1) Log in to your Office 365 account and go to the Admin section to open the Office 365 Admin Center.Open the Office 365 Admin Center

Step-2) In the Teams & Groups category, open the drop-down and click on Shared Mailboxes.click on Shared Mailboxes

Step-3) On the new page of Shared Mailbox, you can click ‘Add a shared mailbox’ to create a new one.Click on Learn more about shared mailboxes

Step-4) Input a unique name for your organization. The Email section will be filled automatically with the group’s exact name. But you can change it too. In the Domains list, you can choose any domain of your business. Then, click Save Changes.Click Save Changes

Step-5) Creating the mailbox will take a couple of minutes, and you will get a successful message after its creation. Next, click on ‘Add members to your shared mailbox.’Click Add members to your shared mailbox

Step-6) Choose the members from the list to add to the shared mailbox. Click Add.Add member in the list

Step-7) When you choose the shared mailbox from the list, then you can check that members are listed there.Members are listed

The message also shows that the changes will appear in Outlook and OWA within 60 minutes. So, after 60 minutes you can check your Outlook applications and see a new shared mailbox in it.

How to create a Shared mailbox with Exchange Online PowerShell?

You can create a shared mailbox using the Exchange Online PowerShell by following the process below–

Step 1) First create a mail-enabled security group and provide a proper name.
Step 2) Connect the PowerShell with the Exchange Online.
Step 3) Run the New-Mailbox command.

New-Mailbox -Shared -Name “Contact” -DisplayName “Human Resource Department” -Alias Customer | Set-Mailbox -GrantSendOnBehalfTo HumanResource
Add-MailboxPermission -Identity “Human Resource Department” -User HumanResource -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All
How to Create a Shared Mailbox in Exchange Admin Center?

You can create shared mailboxes from Exchange Admin Center also. Follow the steps:

  1. Login to Exchange Admin Center and follow Recipients>>Shared>>Add.
  2. Input the data into the fields – Display Name, Email address.
  3. To provide Full Access or Send As permissions, click Add and choose all the users you want to provide the permission level.
  4. Finally, click Save option and create a new mailbox.
Different Permissions for the Shared Mailbox-
  • Full Access
    The Full Access permission gives the total control to the user over the shared mailbox. The user can create and edit calendar events, email messages, and contacts.
  • Send As
    The Send As permission allows the user to impersonate the shared mailbox.
  • Send on Behalf
    The Send on Behalf permission allows the user to send the email on behalf of the shared mailbox. When anyone gets the reply from the shared mailbox, then it will look like ‘Adam on Behalf of Sales Department..’

Conclusion

Creating a Shared mailbox is a straightforward process that can be easily accomplished using the Admin Center. Shared mailboxes are typically used by individuals working toward common goals and often contain critical data. It’s essential to regularly back up all the information stored in these mailboxes. When you take a backup of Office 365 mailboxes, you should be cautious that you backup the shared mailbox. Kernel Office 365 Backup and Restore software is one such tool that mainly takes the backup of Office 365 mailboxes, including shared mailboxes.

Q- How to Create a Shared Calendar in Office 365?

A- To create a shared calendar in Office 365, follow the below steps:
1- Log in to your Office 365 account and navigate to the calendar app.
2- Click on New Calendar on the left side of the screen.
3- Give the calendar a name and a description, and select a color for it.
4- Under Permissions, choose who you want to share the calendar with. You can select specific people or groups or make it public.
5- Choose the level of permission you want to give to each person or group. You can choose whether they can view the calendar, edit it, or become the owner of the calendar.
6- Click on Create to save the calendar.
Now that you have created the calendar, you can add events and appointments. You and the people you have shared calendar with can view and edit the calendar, depending on the permissions you have assigned.