What is Office 365 Shared Mailbox Limitations?

Do you know about Office 365 shared mailbox? Go through this article and learn what is Office 365 shared mailbox, its limitations and how to create it.

When shared mailbox came into existence in Office 365, it did not take much time to catch the everyone attention. The idea of shared mailbox is something much bigger than the concept of O365 Group or Primary mailbox.

Now the shared mailbox has received prominence for its excellent features, it’s time to explore more about it. So this article is written for all users who want to know about Office 365 shared mailbox and wish to implement on their Organization.

So, let’s get started!

First Off – What is Office 365 Shared Mailbox?

Shared mailbox is not just like a regular O365 primary mailbox. It is a smart mailbox that exclusively created by Office 365 administrator. Actually, the aim of making shared mailbox is to create a centralized email address for particular departments like Customer support department, HR department and so on in an organization.

Plus, the administrator has rights to give permission to the members in order to access shared mailbox data. Afterward, this mailbox gets visible along with primary mailbox for those users whose accounts have the shared mailbox access permission.

Tip: Office 365 Shared mailbox up to 50 GB does not require any license. But, when the data limit exceeds, then at least Exchange Online Plan 1 or 2 must be required to maintain the data in it. Now, you have two options to deal with this situation. First, either take the plan suitable for mailbox or backup the data of shared mailbox using SysTools Office 365 Mailbox Extractor tool on the system and free up the cloud space.

What’s more – Whenever an email received in Office 365 shared mailbox, it can be easily viewed by the added members. In case, when someone replied to the mail, it is sent on the behalf of shared mailbox address instead of individual user address. Adding to it, no single user can sign-in directly to O365 shared mailbox account. Furthermore, this mailbox can be used as a shared calendar. So, added members can receive the event notification timely.

After understanding the concept of Office 365 shared mailbox, let’s see how it can be created in Office 365.

How to Create Shared Mailbox in Microsoft Office 365?

There are two possible ways through which admin can make a shared mailbox. Both of the approaches will discuss here:

#Method 1: Take Help of Microsoft 365 Admin Center

1. 1. First of all, Sign-in into O365 as an administrator.
   2. Next, opt for Admin option to initiate the process.

1. 1. In left-side panel, you need to click on Shared mailboxes followed by Groups.

1. 1. You need to click +Add a mailbox button. It will pop-up New shared mailbox wizard.

1. 1. Under Add a mailbox section, type the name and suitable address in Name & Email box respectively. Once you have done with this, hit Add button to save it.

1. 1. In a matter of minutes, the mailbox gets created. Plus, in the following window, you can assign the members by clicking on Add member to this mailbox option.

#Method 2: Use EAC to Create Shared Mailbox

1. 1. Click on this link https://outlook.office365.com/ecp and login into account to directly access the Exchange Admin Center.

1. 1. Click on recipients from Exchange admin center window as shown in the screenshot.

1. 1. After that, click on shared that adjacent to contacts. Then, to make a shared mailbox, click ‘+’.

1. 1. Provide a relevant name and ID under Display name and Email address respectively.

1. 1. Click on ‘+’ in order to add the member. Then, click on OK followed by Add.

1. Finally, click on Save to end the process.

That’s all about how to create a shared mailbox using graphical interface approaches. However, you can also perform the same using Exchange Management Shell. But, it is a complex method. So, it is advised to avoid it.

Other Facts About Office 365 Shared Mailbox

1. The shared mailbox exclusively used by the members that work inside the organization.
2. It is impossible to use a shared mailbox on the mobile device through default Outlook application. To access the mailbox, you need to open the OWA through browser.
3. Shared mailbox does not support the encryption feature for emails. So, the mails send by shared mailbox ID are not secured by encryption key. However, the members that have permission to access shared mailbox can use their own key and encrypt the message.
4. At least Office 365 Business subscription plan that includes Exchange Online service is needed to create shared mailbox.

Final Thoughts

As we see, the applications are continuously changing to fulfill the dynamic need of users. And, the Office 365 shared mailbox is one such example. After reading this article, you will definitely have enough knowledge about what is Office 365 shared mailbox and how to create it effortlessly.