How to Add a Shared Mailbox in Outlook in Microsoft 365

If a shared mailbox does not appear automatically in your Outlook folder pane after your administrator has granted you access, you can add it manually. This guide walks you through how to add a shared mailbox in Outlook using the Account Settings dialog, so you can access mailboxes such as "IT Team Support" or "Payroll Support" directly from your main account.

Prerequisites

• You must have been granted access to the shared mailbox by your administrator before proceeding.
• Shared mailboxes typically appear automatically in your Outlook folder pane once access has been granted. If yours does not, follow the steps below to add it manually.

1

Check for automatically added mailboxes

Look in the Outlook folder pane, under your main account, to see if the shared mailbox already appears there. If a mailbox such as "Payroll Support" is not visible, proceed with the manual steps below.

2

Open account settings

Click the File tab in the top left corner of the Outlook window.

4

Select your main email account

In the Account Settings window, locate and highlight your main email account (for example, toshitb@techbytosh.com).

6

Open more settings

In the Exchange Account Settings window, confirm that "Use Cached Exchange Mode to download email to an Outlook data file" is checked. Then click More Settings at the bottom left of the window.

7

Add the shared mailbox

In the Microsoft Exchange window, go to the Advanced tab and locate the Open these additional mailboxes section. Click Add....

8

Enter the shared mailbox email address

In the Add Mailbox dialog, type the email address of the shared mailbox you want to add. For example, enter payroll@techbytosh.com.

9

Confirm and apply changes

Click OK in the Add Mailbox dialog after entering the email address. The shared mailbox (for example, "Payroll Support") should now appear in the list under Open these additional mailboxes. Click OK again in the Microsoft Exchange window to confirm your changes.

10

Complete the account settings update

In the Exchange Account Settings window, click Next to proceed. If the shared mailbox was already added automatically, it may appear twice in the folder pane—once automatically and once manually.

11

Restart Outlook to apply changes

After clicking Next, a dialog confirms that your account was successfully updated and states: "You need to restart Outlook for these changes to take effect." Click Done to close the dialog.

12

Close account settings

In the Account Settings window, click Close to exit and return to the main Outlook interface.

Troubleshooting tips

• If the shared mailbox does not appear after completing these steps, double-check that you entered the correct email address and that your administrator has granted you access.
• Restarting Outlook is often required for the changes to take effect.

Summary

You have now learned how to add a shared mailbox in Outlook manually through the Account Settings dialog. By adding the mailbox under Open these additional mailboxes and restarting Outlook, the shared mailbox should appear in your folder pane and be ready for use.