# Adding a mailbox to Outlook: How to set up access to mailboxes in Outlook

Emails are a fundamental part of communication in many companies. If you cannot keep up with the vast number of emails, it may make sense to **grant colleagues access to your mailbox**. They can then integrate the mailbox into their own email account and view incoming messages – and, with the appropriate authorization, process them.

Note These instructions are valid for the Outlook version of Microsoft 365 and for aOutlook versions 2021, 2019 and 2016.

## How to add a mailbox to Outlook quick guide

1. Open Outlook and click on **File**. Under **Account Information** click on **Add Account** and enter the desired email address.
2. Optional: Select the IMAP email protocol, enter the password for your email account and click on **Connect**.
3. After successful setup, click on **Process completed**.

## How to add a mailbox to Outlook step by step

In Outlook, **shared mailbox usage** works for all accounts that are stored on a **shared Exchange server**. So that you can integrate the mailbox of another Outlook account into your own account, it must **first be shared**. It is possible to share the entire mailbox or just individual folders. The latter is useful if you only want to share messages from a specific address. You can also specify whether you only want to grant **read permission** or also the option to **sort**, **reply** or even **delete** the emails. After approval, the Outlook mailbox can be added and managed within the scope of the rights granted.

Note Shared mailboxes or individual email folders may only be available after a few minutes. You may therefore have to wait a moment before you can integrate them into your Outlook mailbox.

### How to share a mailbox in Outlook

Sharing the Outlook mailbox (or a subfolder) with **other users on the Exchange server** can be done in just a few steps.

First, right-click the inbox and select **Properties…** (Outlook on the web: **Permissions**) in the menu that appears. If you do not want to share the entire mailbox, but only certain subfolders, select these subfolders instead of the inbox:

[![Image: Outlook: Mailbox menu](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/9/9/csm_mailbox-outlook-properties_3da08ee055.webp "Outlook: Mailbox menu")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/mailbox-outlook-properties.png) Outlook: Mailbox menu Then, go to the **Permissions** tab and click on the **Add** button. You can then search the global address list for the account to which you want to add the Outlook mailbox:

[![Image: Outlook: Share the mailbox](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/4/0/csm_EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-1-permissions_ab76379caf.webp "Outlook: Share the mailbox")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2020/EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-1-permissions.jpg) Outlook: Share the mailbox As a last step, you define the user permissions for the shared mailbox. With the **Owner** permission level, for example, it is possible to read, reply to, and delete all emails. You can also create new folders and subfolders. Click **OK** to accept the settings you have made.

[![Image: Outlook: Mailbox permissions](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/d/0/csm_EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-2-authorization-levels_49e464d645.webp "Outlook: Mailbox permissions")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2020/EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-2-authorization-levels.jpg) Outlook: Mailbox permissions ### How to add a mailbox

To add a shared mailbox in Outlook, open the **File** tab and click twice on **Account Settings**:

[![Image: Outlook menu “Account Settings”](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/2/3/csm_outlook-menu-account-info_1a56bd6899.webp "Outlook menu “Account Settings”")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/outlook-menu-account-info.png) Outlook menu “Account Settings” In the list, click the Outlook account that you want to associate with the shared mailbox, and then click **Change…**. Alternatively, start the Exchange account settings by double-clicking on the respective account:

[![Image: Outlook: “Change…” in Account Settings](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/4/a/csm_EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-4-microsoft-exchange_ca69436643.webp "Outlook: “Change…” in Account Settings")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2020/EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-4-microsoft-exchange.jpg) Outlook: “Change” in Account Settings In the following menu, click on **Further settings** and then go to the **Advanced** tab. Click on **Add…**, enter the name of the shared mailbox, and confirm the import via **OK**:

[![Image: Microsoft Exchange settings in Outlook](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/0/c/csm_EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-5-add_770f4bf344.webp "Microsoft Exchange settings in Outlook")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2020/EN-outlook-postfach-hinzufuegen-5-add.jpg) Microsoft Exchange settings in Outlook The mailbox should now be displayed in the list of additional mailboxes to be opened. If this is the case, save the changes with **Apply**. Then click on **OK** and then on **Next**. Outlook will then inform you that your account has been successfully updated.

You can now see the added Outlook mailbox in the folder area. If you select it, the client lists the messages it contains directly in your own account.

### How to add a mailbox in Outlook on the web

In the Outlook web application, you can also add mailboxes that other users have previously shared with you. To do this, log in to your account in the Outlook web app and right-click on the three dots in the **Folders** tab of the primary mailbox in the left navigation pane. Then select **Add shared folder**. If you have multiple email accounts integrated into your Outlook account, you must first select the email account for which the mailbox was shared.

[![Image: Outlook on the web: Add mailbox](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/8/e/csm_owa-add-folder_c4c8031c11.webp "Outlook on the web: Add mailbox")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/owa-add-folder.png) Outlook on the web: Add mailbox Please enter the name or email address of the person whose Outlook mailbox you want to add and click **Add**:

[![Image: Outlook on the web: “Add shared folder or mailbox”](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/5/1/csm_owa-add-address-folder_c30baaf74a.webp "Outlook on the web: “Add shared folder or mailbox”")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/owa-add-address-folder.png) Outlook on the web: “Add shared folder or mailbox” In the folder overview, there should now be an entry for the added Outlook mailbox, alongside the folders of your own mailbox.

[![Image: Outlook on the web: Folder area with added mailbox](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/_processed_/2/9/csm_owa-folder-area-added_04fc92c7e6.webp "Outlook on the web: Folder area with added mailbox")](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/fileadmin/DigitalGuide/Screenshots_2024/owa-folder-area-added.jpg) Which folders you can see after the import depends on which permissions have been granted. ## Reasons for adding or sharing an Outlook mailbox

There are various reasons why it may be useful or necessary to add a mailbox to your Outlook account that actually belongs to a different profile. For example, a common scenario is that a manager needs **support in managing his or her mailbox** and the assistant grants access authorization for this reason. In this way, depending on the authorization level, support is provided when entering and sorting or even replying to received messages. Another use case is the **shared management of an email support account**. By integrating several users into the Outlook mailbox belonging to the support account, the processing of support requests can be easily distributed across several shoulders.

Tip In Outlook, you can do more than just share and collaborate on mailboxes. You can also [share your Outlook calendar](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/e-mail/technical-matters/sharing-outlook-calendars/) to coordinate appointments with colleagues or share schedules with clients and business partners.

It is possible for mailboxes of former employees to be temporarily connected to the Outlook accounts of current employees. This is especially important if the former employees had regular email interactions with customers, ensuring that the relevant account can remain active during the transition period.


This is a markdown version of: [https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/e-mail/technical-matters/add-mailbox-to-outlook/](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/e-mail/technical-matters/add-mailbox-to-outlook/) for AI/LLM consumption.