Accessing Shared Mailboxes via IMAP

Microsoft 365 is fantastic, and with the cloud based offering of Exchange mail it has no doubt enabled many more businesses to take advantage of these systems at a very affordable price point.

One query that we often hear at Black Owl, is 'how do I access my shared mailbox on my phone?' While this seems simple, at the time of writing, there is no official support for accessing shared mailboxes on either the iOS or Android official Outlook app.

Don't worry though, all is not lost! There is a 'workaround' that you can use to access the shared mailbox on your phone via an IMAP connection.

This guide assumes that you already have a licensed user (normally your own user account that you can send and receive mail from), and your shared mailbox already set up (these are deemed 'unlicensed'). The guide also assumes that you already have full permissions (send and receive) on the shared mailbox.

Please note that creating shared mailboxes, licensed users, and assigning permissions, can only be done in the Microsoft Admin Center. You may need to speak with your IT Admin (or Black Owl, depending on who manages your system/tenancy) to arrange the access.

Connecting to a Shared Mailbox via the native iOS Mail app:

1. Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts.
   
   
2. Click Add Account.
   
   
3. Select Other.
   
   
4. On the Other screen, touch Add Mail Account.
   
   
5. In the new screen, you will enter:
   Name: The name that will be displayed to recipients on email.
   Email: The email address of the shared mailbox (e.g., shared@example.com).
   Password: Your email password.
   Description: Your chosen description (e.g., your business name).
   
   
6. Touch Next to get to the full settings.
   
   
7. On the following screen, confirm that IMAP is selected at the top.
   
   
8. Scroll down. In the Incoming Mail Server section, enter the following values:
   Host Name: outlook.office365.com
   User Name: Your personal email address, followed by a forward slash, followed by the name of the shared mailbox. For example; firstname.lastname@example.com/shared
   Password: Your email password.
   
   
9. Scroll down. In the Outgoing Mail Server section, enter the following values:
   Host Name: smtp.office365.com
   User Name: Your full email address.
   Password: Your email password.
   
   
10. Touch the Next button and wait for the server to verify your settings.
    
    
11. Choose your synchronization choices and touch Save in the upper right corner. You will now find the shared account in your Mail app under Mailboxes.

Connecting to a Shared Mailbox via the Outlook iOS app*:

1. In the Outlook App, tap on the 3 vertical lines in the top right corner, then select the "Settings" icon (looks like a cog-wheel) a the bottom.
   
   
2. On the Settings screen, choose "Add Account", then choose "Add Email Account". Enter the name of the shared account (example: sharedaccount@davidson.edu), then choose Add Account. This will take you to an Microsoft 365 login screen asking for a password. Since it is a shared mailbox and you most likely do not have a password, click the back arrow in the top corner. There is a new option on the screen called "Setup Account Manually" choose that option.
   
   
3. On the next screen, scroll down to where it says ADVANCED and select IMAP.
   
   
4. Turn on the switch for and Use Advanced Settings and enter the following information:

   Email Address: The email address of the shared mailbox (e.g., shared@example.com). 

   Display Name: The name that will be displayed to recipients on email. 

   Description: Your chosen description (e.g., your business name).

   IMAP Hostname: outlook.office365.com

   IMAP Username: Your personal email address, followed by a forward slash, followed by the name of the shared mailbox. For example; firstname.lastname@example.com/shared

   IMAP Password: YOUR account password

   SMTP Hostname: smtp.office365.com:587

   SMTP Username: Your full email address.

   Password: YOUR account password
   
   

5. Select Sign In. If all the information you entered is correct, you will now have access to the shared mailbox on your iOS device.

*Please note that the above guide may also work on other devices such as Android, the menu systems may be slightly different - but the settings for mail servers will remain the same.

If you are still facing problems with this set up, please raise a ticket with our support desk by emailing support@blackowl.co.uk.