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How can I access an additional mailbox or a shared mailbox?

Question:
How can I access an additional mailbox or a shared mailbox?
Answer:

This guide will show you how to add an additional mailbox to your account - for example, a shared mailbox that is accessed by members of your team, or a special project or service mailbox.

 

Prerequisites

  • There are several options for accessing additional mailboxes; only the two most common methods are given below. Some teams may need to use other methods, so check with your colleagues to see if this applies to you. For example, if you need to use mail merge from the shared mailbox address, a different access method is needed. Please contact IT Service Desk if you believe the instructions below do not fit your requirements.
  • Make sure you can access your own email first. Use the Office 365 email guide to set this up.
  • Check you have access to the additional mailbox – try opening the mailbox using Webmail. If you get Your mailbox appears to be unavailable, that means you need to request access. The owner of the mailbox or your departmental administrator will normally request this, but if unsure, ask your line manager to contact IT Service Desk

 

Option A: Accessing an additional mailbox with Outlook Web App (Webmail)

  1. Go to http://mail.rhul.ac.uk/ and log in with your username (or email address) and password.

    mailrhulacuk
  2. In the top-right corner, click your name and then Open Other Mailbox.

    Open Other Mailbox
  3. Type in the shared mailbox address, or at least part of it, then click Open. If it's a valid address, it will underline in blue. Click Open again to continue.

 

Option B: Adding an additional mailbox to Outlook 2010 or above

In the example images below, staff member Bruce Smith is adding the additional mailbox sharedmail@rhul.ac.uk in Outlook 2010. You will need to substitute in the correct values for your own situation. If your Outlook does not look like the below images, please contact IT Service Desk for specific instructions for your email program.

  1. From your main Outlook mailbox, click the orange File tab in the top-left corner, then Add Account.

             01filetab              02addaccount             
           
  2. In the Add New Account window, enter the email address of the additional mailbox, e.g. sharedmail@rhul.ac.uk, in the E-mail address box, then click Next. You should not enter text, passwords, or choose any of the other options on this screen.

           03mailboxaddress                                                                                                                

    On the next screen, a series of ticks should come up next to each item. At some point a password prompt window will appear.

  3. You need to change the email address to your own email address, e.g. Bruce.Smith@rhul.ac.uk, then tick Remember my password. This will only save the password for the current user of the PC, if someone else logs in they won't be able to access the mailbox.

    04passwordpromptwindow  05yourcredentials      

    IMPORTANT – this needs to be your own email address and password, not your ZYXW123 username or the shared mailbox email address.

  4. The password prompt may appear a second time – simply enter the details as in step 4 and you should end up on a screen with all green ticks. Click Finish and you will be prompted to restart Outlook. Close Outlook and then open it again to continue.

    06congratulationsfinish           
           
  5. You may be prompted for password again – enter the correct details as in step 4. There may also be a minute or two delay at this point if the mailbox has many folders and subfolders.

  6. The additional mailbox should appear on the left side of the screen, beneath your other mailbox folders. Click the small triangle next to it to expand the mailbox and view the folders. It may take a few minutes for the email to appear, depending on the size of the mailbox.

    07mailboxfolder                  

If a message "Cannot expand the folder" appears, this means you do not have access to the additional mailbox yet.


 
 
 

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