Use a shared mailbox

A shared mailbox is one that someone has given you access to besides your own: a team's mailbox like support@ or orders@, or a colleague's. Once you add it, it appears in the app as a mailbox of its own, with its own folders, and the mail you send from it goes out from its address, not yours.

The app opens a shared mailbox with the sign-in of the account it was shared with. It has no password of its own, and you do not need to add it as a separate account.

Add a shared mailbox

Open Settings, choose Accounts, then the account the mailbox was shared with, and look for Shared mailboxes. The section appears once the account has connected, and only for an account whose provider can open one.

For most providers the app asks the server which mailboxes have been shared with you and shows a switch for each:

1. Find the mailbox in the Shared mailboxes list, by its address.
2. Switch it on.

The mailbox appears in the folder list straight away, beneath the account it was shared with, and its mail starts downloading in the background.

If the list says No mailbox is shared with this account., nothing has been shared with you yet, or the share is still waiting for you to accept it at your provider.

Add a shared mailbox on Microsoft 365

Microsoft does not tell apps which mailboxes are shared with you, so on a Microsoft account you add one by its address. The app also needs your permission to open mailboxes other than your own, and it asks for that only if you want it.

1. When you add your Microsoft account, keep Also mailboxes shared with you ticked under Email before you sign in. Microsoft then lists this on its consent screen.

   If your account is already set up, open its page in Settings → Accounts and switch on Shared mailboxes under Used for. The app opens Microsoft's sign-in so you can allow it.

2. In the Shared mailboxes section of the same page, type the mailbox's address in Address of a shared mailbox, and press Enter.

The app checks with Microsoft that you can open the mailbox, and then adds it. If you see No mailbox you can open has that address., check the address for typing errors. Microsoft gives the same answer for a mailbox that does not exist and one that has not been shared with you, so if the address is right, ask whoever manages the mailbox to give you access.

Send from a shared mailbox

A message you write from a shared mailbox is sent from its address, under the name its provider holds for it, and a copy is kept in that mailbox's own Sent folder, where everyone else who uses the mailbox can see it.

• A new message: select the shared mailbox, or one of its folders, before you choose New Mail. The From field starts on the shared mailbox.
• A reply: replying to a message in the shared mailbox sends from the shared mailbox.
• Any message: choose the shared mailbox in the From field.

Stop using a shared mailbox

Switch the mailbox off in the Shared mailboxes section and confirm. Its mail is removed from this device. Nothing changes on the server: the mailbox and everything in it stay where they are, and you can switch it on again later.

Switching off Shared mailboxes under Used for on a Microsoft account, or switching off Mail, stops using every shared mailbox of that account in the same way. Removing the account removes its shared mailboxes with it.

If your access to a mailbox is taken away, the app keeps it and marks it No longer shared with this account until you switch it off, so access withdrawn for a moment does not delete its mail from your device.

Your privacy

A shared mailbox is opened directly between your device and your provider, like your own mail. Its mail is kept on your device and is never sent to Allodia, and an Allodia account does not include your shared mailboxes in the list of accounts it keeps in step across your devices. The address you type on a Microsoft account goes only to Microsoft.