Shared mailboxes

Outlook for Windows (old)  | Outlook for Windows (new) |  Outlook for Mac  |  Outlook on the web  | iPhone / iPad  | Other platforms

Outlook for Windows (old)

Before you start

There are *two (2)* types of Microsoft email account that are used for "shared mailboxes":

  • Shared mailboxes (Method 1)
    • User logs in with their own credentials
    • Email and calendar only - no Teams, etc.
    • Included with our Microsoft subscription
  • Generic user mailboxes (Method 2)
    • User logs in with account credentials (e.g. shared@uwaterloo.ca and some password that your manager gave you)
    • Full account, can be used for Teams and other platform logins, as well as email and calendar
    • University pays a license for these

Method 1 - Shared mailboxes

  1. Open Outlook. Click on the “File” tab near the top-left corner of the window, and then click the “+Add Account” button.
  2. Type in the email address of the shared mailbox sharedmailboxuserid@uwaterloo.ca and then click the “Connect” button.
  3. Click "Back" then delete the shared mailbox email and type in youruserid@uwaterloo.ca
  4. Click "Next" then type in your WatIAM password in the password field.
  5. Click "Sign In", and complete 2FA as necessary by following the prompts.
  6. In the bottom left corner of the pop-up dialogue select "No, sign in to this app only."
  7. A message stating “Account successfully updated. You need to restart Outlook for these changes to take effect" will appear. Click the “Done” button to close the window.
  8. Close Outlook – wait about 10 seconds – then launch Outlook.
  9. Be patient when you restart Outlook. Email messages, folders, and calendar appointments in the shared mailbox will require time to download from the server.
  10. The next time you click on the "New Email" button, you will have the option to send from either the shared mailbox or your personal account.
  11. Try sending a 'test' message from the shared mailbox to ensure the account is working properly.

The default setting for Outlook for Windows is to only download the last 12 months of email into its Offline Cache when an account is added. To download ALL email messages to make the viewing and searching of older email messages faster complete the following steps…

  1. Click on the “File” tab near the top-left corner of the window, then click the “Account Settings” button, and then click “Account Settings…” from the drop-down menu list.
  2. Double-click on the shared mailbox to edit the account settings.
  3. Drag the slider for “Download email for the past:” from near the middle of the window to the far right to set it at “All” then click on the “Next” button at the bottom right.
  4. A prompt stating “Account successfully updated. You need to restart Outlook for these changes to take effect” will appear. Click the “Done” button at the bottom of the page, and then close the "Account Settings" window.
  5. You do not need to restart Outlook immediately, however after closing Outlook wait about 10 seconds before relaunching it. 

Method 2 - Generic user mailboxes

  1. In the top menu, click "File"
  2. Click the "Account Settings" button in the main pane
  3. Select "Account Settings" (yes, seriously) from the dropdown
  4. Near the top of the "Email" tab, click "New..."
  5. Type in the email address of the generic user mailbox genericmailboxuserid@uwaterloo.ca
  6. Click "Connect"
  7. Click "Next"
  8. Type in the generic user mailbox WatIAM password in the password field.
  9. Click "Sign In"
  10. Complete 2FA as necessary by following the prompts.
  11. The mailbox will appear below your personal userid@uwaterloo.ca email account in the left pane (you may want to collapse your personal email account to more easily find the generic user account)
  12. To enable sending from additional accounts:
    1. click on the "New Email" button
    2. open the "Options" menu at the top
    3. in the "Show fields" group, select "From:". 
    4. This will enable the "From:" dropdown and you will have the option to send from either the shared mailbox or your personal account.
  13. Try sending a 'test' message from/to the shared mailbox to ensure the account is working properly.

Outlook for Windows (New)

Before you start

There are *two (2)* types of Microsoft email account that are used for "shared mailboxes":

  • Shared mailboxes (Method 1)
    • User logs in with their own credentials
    • Email and calendar only - no Teams, etc.
    • Included with our Microsoft subscription
  • Generic user mailboxes (Method 2)
    • User logs in with account credentials (e.g. shared@uwaterloo.ca and some password that your manager gave you)
    • Full account, can be used for Teams and other platform logins, as well as email and calendar
    • University pays a license for these

Method 1 - Shared mailboxes

  • Nothing to do! :)
  • With New Outlook, any mailboxes shared with you are in a folder called "Shared with me" in the side pane under your personal account (you shouldn't have to do anything to get them to appear)
  • If IT recently added you, there may be a lag of up to half a day before the access propagates to Microsoft
  • You may have to restart Outlook
  • Note that if you want to send from the shared mailbox, when you create your message click the dropdown next to the From: field and either select or search for the shared mailbox account name

Method 2 - Generic user mailboxes

  1. At the bottom of the left side menu, click "Add account"
  2. Type in the email address of the shared mailbox genericmailboxuserid@uwaterloo.ca and then
  3. Click "Continue"
  4. Click "Next"
  5. Type in the generic user mailbox WatIAM password in the password field.
  6. Click "Sign In"
  7. Complete 2FA as necessary by following the prompts.
  8. The mailbox will appear below your personal userid@uwaterloo.ca email account in the left pane (you may want to collapse your personal email account to more easily find the generic user account)
  9. The next time you click on the "New Email" button, you will have the option to send from either the shared mailbox or your personal account.
  10. Try sending a 'test' message from/to the shared mailbox to ensure the account is working properly.

Outlook for MacOS (old)

  1. In Outlook, click the "Tools" tab near the top of the window.
  2. In the drop-down menu, click "Accounts".
  3. Next, click on "Advanced".
  4. Click on the "Delegates" tab.
  5. Click the "+" button under "Open these additional mailboxes:". 
  6. Type in the shared mailbox's e-mail address to search for it.
  7. Select the account you wish to add and click the "Add" button. 
  8. Click "OK" when finished and your shared mailbox will now be added.

Outlook for MacOS (New)

  1. In New Outlook, click the "File" tab near the top of the window .
  2. In the drop-down menu, click "Open" then "Shared Mailbox...".
  3. Enter the "shared mailbox username" in the search bar and click on it(e.g. sharename, where the email address is sharename@uwaterloo.ca).
  4. Click "Add".
  5. Your shared mailbox will now be added. 

Outlook web app

Note that logging in to a generic user mailbox separately from your personal mailbox in a browser is tricky and not recommended. The following instructions are for shared mailboxes.

  1. Login to Outlook.com using your personal UWaterloo e-mail and password. 
  2. On the left side menu, right-click "Folders."
  3. In the drop-down menu select "Add shared folder or mailbox".
  4. In the pop-up dialogue, enter the shared mailbox email address (sharedmailboxuserid@uwaterloo.ca).
  5. Click "Add."
  6. Your shared mailbox will now appear under your personal account in the left pane.

iPhone/iPad

Open the Outlook App and log in with the credentials associated with your personal UW email account.

  1. Open the Outlook App and login with your personal UWaterloo e-mail and password.
  2. In the top left corner, click on the "Microsoft 365 icon" (a blue and purple hexagon).
  3. In the bottom left of the  menu, click on the "Settings" icon (a gear).  
  4. Under the section "Mail Accounts"  tap "Add Mail Account."
  5. Select"Add Shared Mailbox."
  6. Enter sharedmailboxuserid@uwaterloo.ca and click "Add Shared Mailbox."

Other platforms

If you need to add a shared mailbox on a platform outside of the ones above, you can use these server settings:

  • Username: yourWatIAM@uwaterloo.ca
  • Server: outlook.office365.com
  • Domain: uwaterloo.ca

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