Exchange - Access Shared Mailbox

Issue/Question

• How do I open a shared mailbox?
• How do I open a departmental mailbox?
• How do I open another person's mailbox that I have been granted access to?

Environment

• Oregon State University
• Exchange Email

Explanation

To open a shared mailbox, your account must first be granted access to the mailbox. If you have not yet been granted access, please have the mailbox owner, department LRP, or a supervisor submit this request: Grant Access to an Existing Resource

Most employees (including associates, emeritus and some graduate students) will sign into Exchange email with their ONID account. Most undergraduate student employees will use a student employee ("se-username") account to access Exchange. For student employees, make sure you sign in with the correct account that was granted access.

In a few cases, users will sign into a shared mailbox with the username and password for that mailbox; this is not common.

Resolution

Method 1 - Use Outlook on the Web

This is the easiest method to access a shared mailbox, and will work for anyone who has been granted access to a shared mailbox:

1. In a web browser, enter a web address like this: 
   • https://outlook.office.com/mail/Email.Address@oregonstate.edu/
   • Replace Email.Address@oregonstate.edu with the email address of the shared mailbox
2. On the Sign in page, enter your username in this format:
   • Most common: username@oregonstate.edu
   • Most undergraduate student employees will use: se-username@oregonstate.edu
3. Enter your password when prompted
4. Sign in to Duo if prompted

Method 2 - Add the Mailbox to Your Existing Outlook Profile

If you already have an Exchange email profile setup in the Outlook for desktop client, you can add the shared mailbox to your existing profile. For steps, see: Add an Additional Mailbox in Outlook

This is the most common method to access a shared mailbox. 

Method 3 - Create an Outlook Profile for the Shared Mailbox

This is a less common method to access a shared mailbox, but is sometimes needed.

The following features are different if you create a profile for a shared mailbox instead of adding it to your Outlook profile:

• When you reply to messages in the shared mailbox, the "From" address will automatically be set to the shared mailbox
• When you reply to messages in the shared mailbox, the sent item will be stored in the shared mailbox's Sent Items folder instead of in your personal Sent Items folder
• When you delete messages in the shared mailbox, they will show up in the shared mailbox Deleted Items folder instead of in your personal Deleted Items folder

MacOS

1. In Outlook, select the Outlook menu and choose Preferences
2. Select Accounts
3. Choose "Exchange or Office 365"
4. In the E-mail address field, enter the email address of the resource mailbox. 
5. In the username field, enter username@oregonstate.edu where "username" is your ONID username
6. Enter your password
7. Click Add Account
8. You may see a pop-up warning you about autodiscover.oregonstate.edu; check the box to "Always use my response for this server" and click Allow

Windows

1. Press Start and enter Control Panel
2. Select "Mail (Microsoft Outlook)"
3. Select "Show Profiles..."
4. Select "Prompt for a profile to be used"
5. Click "Add"
6. Enter a name for the profile, such as the name of the shared mailbox
7. On the Auto Account Setup screen:
8. Outlook may pre-fill your account information; you will need to overwrite this. Delete anything pre-filled in the Email Address box and enter the email address of the shared mailbox instead.
9. After you enter the shared mailbox address, you can also update the "Your Name" field to the name of the shared mailbox
10. Leave both password boxes blank and click "Next >"
    
11. You will see "Searching for your mail server settings..."
12. A Microsoft "Sign in" window will pop-up. The email address of the shared mailbox will be pre-filled, but you need to change this to your username@oregonstate.edu:
    
    
13. When you see "Congratulations!" click Finish
    
14. Now when you launch Outlook, you will be able to choose the shared mailbox profile
15. Note: if you are prompted to sign in to "Activate Office" please use your ONID account sign in with the username@oregonstate.edu format

Assistance

For assistance, contact the Service Desk.