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Using Shared Mailboxes in Shift
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Do you have a shared or collaborative inbox that you'd like to access in Shift? This is possible! Keep reading this article to learn how. 

 

A Shared Mailbox is a single inbox that allows multiple users to monitor and send emails from a single email address 🤝. Shared mailboxes do not have a specific username and password, thus there is no way to log into them directly. To access a Shared Mailbox, you must be granted access. Once the correct access permissions have been set, the shared mailbox can be added through your own, regular, inbox.

 

In contrast, a regular inbox has a direct log-in with a unique username/password, and only one user (you) has the ability to view received emails and send new ones. 

 

Shift supports any Gmail email hosted by Google as well as any Office 365 or Outlook email hosted by Microsoft. It's important to be cognisant of which is relevant to you, as Google and Microsoft have their own separate iterations of Shared Mailboxes. 

 

How to Use a Shared Mailbox (Outlook) in Shift 

Since Shift is pulling in the browser version of your email client, using a Shared Mailbox in Shift is the same as if you were accessing through Outlook on the web from your native browser (e.g. Chrome or Safari) ✅. 

 

Once you've been granted access to a Shared Mailbox by your admin, you'll need to ensure that you've added the Shared Mailbox folder to Outlook. Once added, the Shared Mailbox folder will display in your folder list and you'll be able to select the Shared Mailbox email address when composing new emails (note that this is set up within Outlook itself).

 

Link to Microsoft support resource - "Open and use a shared mailbox in Outlook on the web"

 

How to Use a Shared Mailbox (Gmail) in Shift

Google refers to shared mailboxes as a "Collaborative Inbox". Using a shared mailbox within Gmail is slightly less intuitive, as you're required to set up a Collaborative Inbox through your Google Groups account. Since Shift is pulling in the browser version of your email client, using a Collaborative Inbox through your Google Groups account in Shift is the same as if you were accessing through Gmail on the web from your native browser (e.g. Chrome or Safari) ✅. 

 

Email Delegation (Gmail) in Shift

Since Shift is pulling in the browser version of your email client, using a delegated email account in Shift is the same as if you were accessing through Gmail on the web from your native browser (e.g. Chrome or Safari) ✅. Delegated email accounts allow other individuals (the delegates) to access your Gmail account. Delegates can read, send, and delete your email messages 👀.

 

To add a delegate: Settings (gear icon) > Accounts and Import > Grant access to your account > "Add another account"

 

Note that this setup is completed within Gmail itself.

 

Link to Google support resource - "Delegate and collaborate on email"

 

When clicking into a delegated email account, Shift will not automatically open the delegated inbox in a new tab. The delegated inbox will take the place of your main inbox and there will not be an easy way to go "back" to your main inbox. As a workaround, when hovering over the delegated email account drop-down, right-click on the delegated email account to "open in a new tab". This will pull up the delegated email inbox in a new tab and allow you to easily toggle back to your main inbox.

 

     

 

 


What's next?

For more guides, click here.

 

Need help?

Get in touch with our support team here.

 

 

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