Microsoft 365 Shared Mailboxes & How they REALLY Work!

n this episode I take a look at Exchange shared mailboxes in Microsoft 365. Specifically how to set them up, manage them and troubleshoot them. I’ll also show you how to convert a regular mailbox and back as well as troubleshooting and licensing. If you’re a Microsoft 365 admin then this is a skill that you must know.
Microsoft docs ref: learn.microsof...
Visit my site www.Andymalone...

[@alnicholson4344]

Amazing video. Really simply explained. I left IT Support 7 years ago when everything was on premises servers on virtual servers. Got an interview lined up this week and this is really helpful to see the interface. Looks like MS have actually made it a really simple interface. Will definitely watch more videos.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Thanks for sharing!

[@RichyQE]

Thank you, very clear explanation about what to do and how with mailbox and shared mailbox.

[@scottt2481]

Well explained as always Andy. Nice pace of delivery. As the community grows, the comments are also very useful. Surely 27.1k subscribers is a mistake!

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

How kind, I’ve only been going a short time so it’s building slowly I guess. I’m just continuing to try my best., Thanks again.

[@Danialnobani-xy8so]

Hi

[@patriziolocatellirossi6584]

Thank you Andy ...your are very clear !!

[@MathildeDANTOVERHILLE]

Hi Andy , thank you a lot for your great video - it was very useful for me . Would it be possible to go further on this notion of shared mailbox in the creation of invitation to a Teams meeting What are the differences between a shared mailbox with an E1 license and without? How to manage meeting options, organizers, presenters, retrieve the recording and the file of attendees and use whiteboard, breakout rooms etc Thanks in advance for your help

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Gosh the problem is I'm a techie not a sales person, so don't ask me about specifics of licensing sorry :-p Yes though I can do a session of the usability of Teams if you like. I'll add it to my list for you. Many thanks :-)

[@kuldiphayer2454]

Excellant video, and information, especially the restore issue discussed int eh later part of the video.

[@user-ni5wf6em5r]

Excellent explanation. Andy...

[@markazcpa3]

Always very useful information, thanks!

[@Bayoir]

Thank you for this resource Andy, I it has helped me a great deal on my new role.. I have few questions if you will oblige me. 1. What's the most effective way of adding users to a shared mail box especially if you have tons of them to add. Does adding groups help? Also, if the users were never in a group, do you still have to do it manually by Checking on the users you want? 2, I did create a shared mailbox and I tried sending a test mail from the newly created mailbox, unlike in this video I didn't use an existing user as my shared mailbox, the challenge I am having however is that the mail didn't deliver to the recipient with the new address of the shared mailbox, it still delivers with the mail address of the user I sent the mail from even tho I made sure to remain on the tab of the new shared mail box. Any reason why that is happening?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Sounds like you need to create a powerShell script. There is probably one that already exists. powershellgallery.com

[@selampeace4261]

it's really great video clear and to the point

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Thank you 👍

[@ahmedali-xf2gs]

Many Thanks Andy, was waiting for this video 🙏

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

You’re very welcome 😊👍

[@petermorrow2351]

Super helpful, thank you so much!

[@skijunkiemom]

Hi Andy - just joined as gold Patreon member. So excited!! Here is my question, I often have departments that want to share a time off calendar. I wouldn't really be a resource calendar, the users jsut want to be able to add/view/edit a shared calendar. I tried creating a shared mailbox and then shared with the dept users. They received the invitations but as users excepted, it was creating multiole shared calendars. Can you refer me to a video on shared shared mailbox calendars?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Hey Susan, great to have you on board :-) I really appreciate it. Ok As part of your Microsoft 365 subscription you will have access to apps like planner or bookings or staff hub. You can set this up with a schedule and off days. This then filters through automatically to Out and Teams. You gave me a great idea for a video thanks :-)

[@AzadAlnair]

Well explained. Thank you

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Glad you liked it

[@vegasjosejavier]

Greetings Andy! You said that regular mailboxes converted to shared mailboxes can be deleted without affecting the shared mailbox, but I've tried to do this multiple times (when a user leaves) and every time I delete the user the shared mailbox gets deleted as well. I though this was why they ask you to change the display name before the conversion, so you can differentiate regular users from shared mailboxes in the active users pane and don't get deleted by mistake.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Converted mailboxes have a tether to the original user which cannot be deleted. It's a royal pain.

[@zoommonkey]

great tutorial. thank you!

[@nirmanafernando90]

Thank you, Andy

[@Martin-r1r]

I have a problem with shared mailbox or maybe it is by design. So the problem is that if I have custom folders in Inbox of that shared mailbox and I move some emails from inbox to custom folders. The emails will copy to folder not move. So they stay in inbox and are copied into the custom folder. But I would like to have option to just move them. Classic way drag and drop. Second problem is when I try to delete a message from trash they will bounce back. Is there a way to delete them from trash ?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Hmm honestly I'm not sure about this one. Check in with the Microsoft Tech Community. That's a good place to post :-)

[@rohitpindoriya2516]

Hi Andy , Nice explained in all videos , I have one question , How we can enable MFA (Multifactor Authentication) for the shared mailbox

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/mfa-for-shared-mailbox/fe616c26-fa7c-49de-bb30-2e10fe48cc0b

[@Sphoe08]

I love your videos. Really good content. My goal is to watch them all in November :o ! Thank you for your work.

[@santoshraghunathan8811]

If we attached 3-4 shared mailbox to outlook of single mailbox. Will it impact outlook performance?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

On prem yes, In cloud No. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/email/about-shared-mailboxes?view=o365-worldwide

[@keithbateman8489]

Microsoft keep changing the Admin centres, usually not for the better. It is like they do not want company administrators to have much control over the user experience, which companies need for uniformity and a corporate image. In this video is the classic Exchange Admin centre, which is no longer available. In The Exchange admin centre there are no options to set a shared mailbox user to have 'Send on behalf of' access permissions. We feel 'Send as' permissions clashed with GDPR as we cannot tell whom has sent an email, unlike 'send on behalf of'. It also causes issue with automated email signature service such as Exclaimer .... the signature is for the mailbox, not the sender. Therefore we have to set this in the O365 admin central, which we are finding buggy of late.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Just a an update for you. I would not focus my skills on premises products. The future is the cloud my friend. Have you taken a look at some of the compliance features in Microsoft purview, particularly the auditing tools. This combined with exchange, transport rules will probably be sufficient for you for technical queries. However, please reach out directly to Microsoft. Thanks again, and all the best.

[@butdidyoureboot]

Can you go over powershell cmdlets to manage shared mailboxes and go over the differences in adding it via the admin portal as opposed to using Powershell commands such as auto mapping features etc? Or about how the PST file is impacted whether you use auto mapping as opposed to adding the shared mailbox to a users outlook app.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Here is all you need for PowerShell and & shared mailboxes learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/collaboration-exo/shared-mailboxes and here o365info.com/shared-mailbox-powershell-commands/amp/

[@russellhatcher836]

Great video even better if you could time stamp it. Thank you.

[@srikanths651]

Tq again for the new topic

[@M-Thee]

Hi Andy After creating the shared mailboxes, where would you actually see them ?within your m365 outlook as a separate entry under the main inbox?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Users would see them initially in the online mailbox and then in outlook client/

[@M-Thee]

@@AndyMaloneMVP thank you so much Andy You are truly a blessing 👍

[@LhenTrickz]

Hi! great video. Thank you. Have a question here. IS there a way to generate a report that shows who sends an email using shared mailbox? thanks in advance.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

I’m not sure of a specific report but can do this. I’m afraid you’re gonna have to research it a little more. Good luck.

[@christopherramos8263]

Great videos, 1 question if you delete user in azure active directory does the user's email deleted as well as they all part of Microsoft 365 package.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Correct.

[@everydayjunglist]

Hey Andy. Really enjoyed this. Quick Q pls - is it possible to have 1 tenant/account, multiple custom domains and the ability to send/receive email from them all? Struggling to work this out as a new Exchange user, and Outlook for macOS and iOS doesn't seem to support it. Thank you!

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Honestly I don’t know my friend. I’ve never encountered this scenario. If you find out please let me know 😊

[@jamesa4958]

Thank you!

[@godwinirabor3950]

Hi Andy...Thanks for all you do..... I have an exited user in my organization, but I need to forward his emails to another user for 6 months before totally offboarding him. We run a hybrid environment, users are created on-premises and then synced to the cloud. Would creating a shared mailbox work in this scenario? if yes, would the user mailbox be converted to a shared mailbox on-premise using EMS or it can be done directly on M365 Admin page or power shell. Also the user's current mailbox is 47.5GB. OR. Can I place a litigation hold on it, removing the user license, then enabling mail forwarding for the needed duration. Note: I don't want the mailbox to be licensed for the duration of the 6 months it needs to be forwarded.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

No you can forward email by setting up forwarding on the users mailbox properties. Just give the additional user permissions. You could also use mail transport rules or Power Automate.

[@godwinirabor3950]

@@AndyMaloneMVP I want to achieve that without the mailbox being licensed for the next 6 months while its mails will be forwarded, how do I achieve that without additional cost?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

@@godwinirabor3950not active mailboxes can send and receive mail

[@surajsoni2776]

Are shared mailboxes protected with office 365 ATP? Do i need additional licenses for protecting them when i have 50 E5 licenses already?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

ATP - Defender for Microsoft 365 is included with Business premium, E5 & EM&S and is based in per user licensing.

[@patrick__007]

What is the appropriate way to rename/edit a shared mailbox/distribution group which was created on prem but it's now cloud synced? I read about changing this in Exchange on prem or AD on prem by changing the Smtpnaddresses in the attribute editor and so on. As always thanks a lot Andy!

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

With a hybrid solution, everything comes from on premises. Do any renaming here, and as you say, it will sync to the cloud. Thanks

[@sleepingcells]

How do you establish a shared Microsoft mailbox centrally, allowing users to have individual email versions. So that any change made by a user like deleting or archiving does not impact the original email but only their version of the email gets altered?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Email does not use versioning.

[@sleepingcells]

@@AndyMaloneMVP I see thanks for advising. I think I heard someone saying something about them being able to do it from google. But this definitively helps to at least give me an idea. Thank you 😊

[@manoharkota732]

Shared Mailbox Desktop Drafts Not working its stored in Personal Mailbox how to overcome this issue while we add as additional account in Outlook Desktop.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

I’m afraid this is a specific technical support question. I’d reach out and issue a support ticket at Microsoft. Thank you

[@remedicalgmbh]

I changed a user into a shared mailbox and Outlook for Mac keeps asking for the password of the newly assigned user to that shared mailbox. The former user which became that shared mailbox was delinked from any licenses. However that login prompt pops up every 30 seconds and the user is not able to either use his/her own mailbox nor the shared mailbox now. Any suggestions?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

I’m really sorry to hear about your problem. Personally I place a support ticket with Microsoft on this. Alternatively you could check out the Microsoft tech community. You could also check out documentation which might help you from learn.microsoft.com

[@estebangarita7853]

I was wondering what happens with the users on a SM or DL leaves the company?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

they will be removed from the list. If its a converted SM it will be deleted.

[@meopendraw]

I tried multiple times converting the user mailbox to shared mailbox to delete the user from users list, but no matter what i do there is a user being displayed for the shared mailbox, even though the Mailbox is created in Shared Mailbox page it did replicate a user with the same display name in active user list. can you please confirm is there any other settings that i need to change in exchange admin for the user to be not replicating in the admin center page.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

I would front your question to support at microsoft.com alternatively visit the Microsoft tech community. It could be a license issue.

[@meopendraw]

@@AndyMaloneMVP Thank you for the reply I indeed asked the microsoft support on this and they told this is how it works the user ID stays in the Active users list after converting the user mailbox to shared mailbox. Deleting the user will delete the mailbox as well as per the confirmation from microsoft support team. Thank you for your videos it is informative!

[@emmanuelchrispher8958]

Thanks you are great

[@tingxuanqu1631]

may I know what is "Sent items" Not copied to mailbox?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Items are part of your mailbox. For example, an individual will have a mailbox and sent items, whereas a group mailbox will also have sent items, but these can be viewed by people in the group if so indicated. The further information on this subject visit Microsoft. learn.microsoft.com, it’s the best solution for documentation. Thanks again.

[@denmanfite3156]

Do you have any information on the "anchor user" that is created when a shared mailbox is created? Not necessarily when an existing user is converted, but a new shared mailbox is created directly. Microsoft doesn't go into much info on exactly what function these serve and I can implicitly assume, but I'd like to reference something more concrete. Thanks

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/email/about-shared-mailboxes?view=o365-worldwide

[@swatikohli3092]

How can i view the shared mailbox permission history,

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Check out the mailbox logs

[@vincentrafiee9727]

If an external mail tries to send a mail to a shared mailbox, will that work?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Yes

[@user-gd4ql9dg7f]

Hello Andy, Can you please explain how to convert a DDL "Query-Based Distribution List" from an On-Prem AD to a mail enabled Dynamic Distribution List in Exchange Online or O365 or Azure?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Sorry I don't know. check support.microsoft.com

[@user-gd4ql9dg7f]

@@AndyMaloneMVP Thank you very much, I appreciate your prompt reply.

[@user-gd4ql9dg7f]

I really like and thank you for your simple explanation of the Microsoft 365/EndPoint world

[@marianocalzada6472]

Dear Andy, you got a new subscriptor! I have a question that I cant seem to solve, I need to put a "lock" on users deleting emails from the shared inbox. I cant find a way to do so, I need them to be part of it, but not to delete. I found a way to do it with powershell scripts but it only does to the inbox folder, only that folder. My users have several folders created and there is no way to grant only read/answer access to these, do you have any idea how to do it? Thanks!

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Thanks very much. He’s a really useful article which I hope will help you. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/email/about-shared-mailboxes?view=o365-worldwide#:~:text=Without%20a%20license%2C%20shared%20mailboxes,size%20of%20the%20archive%20mailbox.

[@marianocalzada6472]

@@AndyMaloneMVP Thanks Andy! One last question! I created a shared inbox but it also creates an user with the same address and a password (which I dont get per email) Is that a normal behaviour from Microsoft?

[@luckyb3924]

What happens to the shared mailbox after isiah's account is permanently deleted after 30 days? Does the sharedmail box still exist or does it get removed

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

It will be deleted. It’s tethered to the original mailbox. If you want to keep in place it on hold.

[@AlBergstein]

Hi Andy, a user question came in today that I realized I had not thought about and I'm sure it's been asked before. We have 5 users on the Shared Mailbox. They all get the email coming in. If one of them deletes a message is that message deleted for all or is it only in their inbox? It appears from my research that the message in inbox1 will only be deleted from inbox1 and all other inboxes for the shared mailbox will still show that message. It is as if 5 copies of the email get sent to 5 people and if one of the deletes it is only deleted locally in their inbox. Is this correct?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Yea I believe so. It’s one mailbox not 5 so there is only 1 copy of the message.

[@AlBergstein]

@@AndyMaloneMVP It appears that the message is deleted for all. I just managed to test it. I sent an external email from my gmail account to the shared inbox. There was a copy sent to me and the rest of the group. I deleted the copy appearing on my inbox (this is in Outlook Online). The email was deleted in his inbox as well as mine. So it appears that the Online inbox is truly showing the same inbox to all users and if one deletes a message in it, it is deleted for all users. Not sure how this is going to work with Outlook on the desktop. sigh. I have looked at a number of Microsoft sites on this issue and none are clear.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

@@AlBergstein instead of a shared mailbox, like you’re currently using, why not consider a Microsoft 365 group, or extend it to become a Microsoft team. It’s much more flexible and a more modern way to work.

[@ArifKhan-uf3ml]

Does Shared Mailbox look disabled in AD? If yes then why?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

No

[@almothanaalhamoud5697]

how can I restrict a shared mail box to receive internal Email only

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Transport rules

[@PassionataDance]

In hybrid you have to create the user mailbox first and then convert it to a shared mailbox.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

That was m answer also👍

[@micmeizter]

If you add members to a shared mailbox through the dashboard they are added with autodiscover. The autodiscover is handy so you dont have to add that shared mailbox manually in outlook app. However this brings some annoying behaviour with it. If you answer or delete a mail in the shared mailbox then that mail gets send to the send or deleted folder of your default mailbox ( so not the shared mailbox) Other people using the sharedmailbox cant see that a mail has been answered or deleted. To counter this you can add a member to a shared mailbox with powershell and specifically say not to add it with autodiscover. The annoying part of this is that you still have to go and add the mailbox manually in outlook app. Is there a way to keep the autodiscover part without these annoying side effects in outlook app?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Great tip. Thanks for sharing 😊

[@itwork7425]

You can add a universal security group as a "member" of a shared mailbox. Members then need to manually add it via desktop Outlook however but then it is their choice. This is extremely useful for users with access to lots of shared mailboxes. We have noticed that Outlook has dramas after 5 mailboxes added (own + 4 extra).

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

@@itwork7425 you’re talking about the hybrid shared mailboxes. My session was purely based on cloud shared mailboxes. To be honest Microsoft 365 groups are far superior if you’re going to use this for any serious collaboration. But you make some great points and thanks for your input.

[@davidadams421]

There's now a UI option to copy the email to the Shared Mailbox so all members see all email sent. From memory, it's in M365 Admin Centre > Shared Mailbox properties pane.

[@murattasova7598]

Hi Andy, is there maximum of shared mailbox whats is allowed by Microsoft. What we do is convert accounts of people who left the company. Cant imagine that MS allows endless amount of shared mailboxes. Greetings from Holland :)

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

My greetings to Holland! Here is a great article, which I believe, will answer all of your questions learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/email/about-shared-mailboxes?view=o365-worldwide#:~:text=Without%20a%20license%2C%20shared%20mailboxes,size%20of%20the%20archive%20mailbox.

[@runeklausen1367]

👍🏻

[@OneDayMissing]

Are you featured in PluralSight?

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

I’m afraid not

[@neilgoodman2885]

10-Q Maestro.

[@RevuitNet]

I don’t particularly like the reference to read and manage being ‘full access’ If you give someone access in to read/manage… they can’t send… they can only edit, create Mail, etc… full access to me would include send which is why I avoid calling it that… It’s read/edit/manage permissions and there are separate send permissions that can be given out…

[@drkmccy]

A shared mailbox cannot be compared the the group mailbox in a 365 group. That behaves more like a distribution list

[@dodobarbar]

I somehow missed the explanation why/when to use shared mailbox instead of group.

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

I would always use a 365 group. It provides more features than a simple mailbox.

[@dodobarbar]

@@AndyMaloneMVP Thx for reply Andy! Well, this is the cancer of a today's business. If you use groups you ended in sending multiple messages and making additional traffic and waste of space. It's basically like CC-ing . The Shared email on the other hand is very cumbersome in using it with a team. There are information's to be shared between a team that came in the email ,and usually users opt for Forwarding or CC-ing. Which of course is the worst way, but MS doesn't give us much options... inside ONE APPLICATION at least. Any thoughts'

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

@@dodobarbar honestly! I’d start using Teams. It’s perfect for collaboration without the hassle of mailboxes. Well you asked 😊

[@dodobarbar]

@@AndyMaloneMVP Haha. Well, it's not that easy. The main workflow still goes through emails. Customers exclusively use email, therefore the back-and-forth has to go through email... and all team has to be notified in a way or another. And honestly MS doesn't have a viable solution out of the box.

[@kabyson]

+

[@RalfHeid]

I is missing... In this episode...

[@khankhaaaan]

A very peace destroying intro, great content though!

[@AndyMaloneMVP]

Good I’m glad it woke you up 👍😀