How To Create A Shared Folder In Outlook

How Do I Share (Let Others See) My Outlook Folders (Inbox, Contacts, Calendar etc.)?

Article ID: 720 Last updated on 3/26/2021 8:35:25 AM Product: Exchange

You may want to allow other users on your Exchange hosting account to be able to view or manage your Outlook folders. You can grant access to your Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, and any other folder or subfolder.

Important: Folder sharing is only available for people within your organization. You can make a calendar available to people outside the organization using "Publish a calendar" feature. Please refer to Knowledge Base article Publish Calendar In Outlook/OWA for insturctions on publishing your calendar.

Choose what type of access you would like to grant:

Partial/selective access to share:

Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Notes or Tasks folders with Sharing invitation.
Known Issues: Option Share may be missing in Outlook 2016 builds after 9330.2078. Microsoft introduced this as a feature so the behavior is treated as expected:https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/monthly-channel-2018#version-1805-may-23

As a workaround you need to go to Calendar > on Home Screen right click Ribbon > choose Customize the Ribbon. The option Share My Calendar is under the Commands Not in the Ribbon list of commands.
Inbox, subfolders and custom top-level folders without Sharing invitation.

Complete/full access to share the entire mailbox.
Sharing in Outlook Web App.
Delegate Permissions in Outlook

Note: for Exchange 2013/2016 accounts:

shared Contacts and Tasks are not visible or usable in OWA;
The calendar and mail folders can be shared via OWA;

Partial/selective access with Sharing invitation

This procedure allows other users to have limited access to selected folders in your Exchange Mailbox. If you want to grant full access to your mailbox, refer to the Complete/full access section of this article.

Note: Autodiscover record is required to use this method. If no Autodiscover is set up, refer to the next section. To find out whether Autodiscover it is set up for your domain or not, contact your account administrator. Read the Knowledge Base article on What Is An Autodiscover Record And Why Do I Need It? for more information.

To share to your Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Notes or Tasks folders with Sharing invitation:

In Outlook, highlight the folder you want to share > right-click this folder > Share > Share Calendar/Contacts/Journal/Notes/Tasks. This action will create a sharing invitation with Reviewer level of permissions. Level of permission can be changed later on step 3.

Alternatively, you can select the folder and click Share on the ribbon:
Click To button and choose user from the address book to whom you want to send invitation > click Send. Note: in Calendar invitation you can also choose level of details that will be shared.To ensure the invitation doesn't fail, you can search for the user's email address in the Global Address list. To do that, click To and select the Global Address List from the Address Book drop-down list:
If you wish to update permissions to a higher level, highlight the folder > right-click this folder > Share > Calendar/Folder Permissions. Read the Knowledge Base article on What Do The Outlook Permission Levels Mean? for more information.
In Permissions tab, highlight the user > set the permissions > click OK.

Once you grant this access, the other party will be able to open your shared resource in their Outlook using Sharing invitation. Read the Knowledge Base article on How Do I Open A Shared Folder In Outlook? for more information.

Important: Outlook 2011 and 2016 Mac users must be granted "Reviewer" access to another person's calendar to be able open that calendar and view details.

If a user sets permission levels only to allow free/busy or free/busy limited details, an Outlook Mac user will not be able to see any details of the shared calendar. PC users must grant "full details" to the Outlook Mac user. Mac users must grant the "Reviewer" role to Outlook Mac users.

Basic free/busy time viewing is only viewable via the Outlook Mac Scheduling Assistant feature, or via OWA. (Note: Outlook Mac users who have a "Reviewer" role may also be able to select another users name within the Send As / From drop down menu. Unless you have explicit permissions to Create Items within the selected users mailbox, Exchange will not allow you to send on the behalf of that person).

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Partial/selective access without Sharing invitation

This procedure allows other users to have limited access to selected folders in your Exchange Mailbox. If you want to grant full access to your mailbox, refer to the next section.

To grant access to Inbox, subfolders and custom top-level folders without Sharing invitation:

In Outlook, highlight the folder you want to share > right-click this folder > choose Properties.
In the Properties window switch to the Permissions tab > click Add. Check the name of the folder you are going to update (top left corner has the folder name).
In the Add Users window choose Address Book > select user (use search to find) > click Add > click OK.
In Permissions, highlight user > set permissions (choose the level of permissions from the menu or set manually) > click OK. Read the Knowledge Base article on What Do The Outlook Permission Levels Mean? for more information.
Now make all parent folders visible, otherwise, the other party will not be able to open your shared folder or subfolder. As shown in the screenshot, we will make Inbox and top container visible.
Note: if you are going to share Inbox or custom top-level folder, remember to make the top container visible. If you are going to share a subfolder in sections other than Inbox (e.g. a subfolder in Calendar, Contacts etc.) then you need to the top level folder (Calendar, Contacts etc.) visible.
To make the top container visible right-click your email address > Folder Permissions > add a user to the list > check the box Folder visible > click OK.
To make a parent folder visible right-click this folder > Properties > Permissions > add user to the list > check the box Folder visible > click OK. Note: a user will not see the content of you Inbox or another folder, however, this permission is necessary for Outlook to expand this parent folder and show the subfolder.

Once you grant this access, the other party will need to open your shared resource in their Outlook. Read the Knowledge Base article on How Do I Open A Shared Folder In Outlook? for more information.

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Grant complete/full access

This feature availability depends on your plan. This procedure allows almost complete access to a mailbox.
Note: user with full access will be able to send messages from your mailbox.

You may complete the steps in either My Services or HostPilot® Control Panel:

From My Services:

Go to Mailbox Access.
Note: it may be unavailable in My Services; the account administrator would have to grant access to this feature from the administrative HostPilot. In this case, you need to use HostPilot or contact your account administrator.
Click Select users to delegate access.
In the Address Book window, check the box(es) next to user(s) you wish to grant access to the your mailbox > click Select.
In the Mailbox Access window choose Full Access > click Save Changes.

From HostPilot Control Panel:

Navigate to Services > Exchange Mailboxes.
Click Action next to the Display Name for the mailbox that is granting permissions to another user or mailbox.
Click Set Access to Mailbox. If the option is not in the list, click the small arrow on the bottom to open full menu.
Type in the email addresses or display names of the users who need to have access to this mailbox and click Check Names. Alternatively, select users from the Address Book.
Choose Full Access option and click Save Changes button.

Read the Knowledge Base article on How Do I Enable Send As Or Full Access Permissions On Exchange Account? for more detailed instructions and screenshots.

Once you grant this access, the other party will need to restart their Outlook. Read the Knowledge Base article on How Do I Add Someone Else's Mailbox To My Outlook Profile? for more information.

Read the Knowledge Base article on How Do I Open A Shared Folder In Outlook? for more information.

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Calendar sharing in Outlook Web App

OWA 2010

OWA 2013/2016/2019

OWA 2010:

Right-click the calendar you would like to share.
Choose Share > Share This Calendar...
Specify permission level and choose people to share with.
Click Send.

OWA 2013/2016/2019:

Right-click the calendar you would like to share.
Choose Share > Sharing permissions
Type in email address to share with.
Specify permission level.
Click Send.

Important: for accounts hosted on Exchange 2013/2016 plans, it is possible to share the mail folders via OWA.

To share the mail folder in OWA:

Right-click the mail folder you would like to share
Chose Permissions... option
Specify permission level and choose people to share with
Click OK

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Delegate Permissions in Outlook

You may share various types of items via Outlook Delegate Permissions.

In Outlook 2010/2013/2016/2019 go to File > Account Settings > Delegate Access. In Outlook 2007 go to Tools > Options > Delegates.
Click Add and select user whom you would like to grant access to your mailbox items.
Select Delegate Permissions for each type of mailbox items (Inbox, Calendars, Contacts, Tasks, Notes) > Ok.

Note: if you share calendar and check the box Delegate receives copies of meeting-related messages sent to me, you delegate would get all your meeting invites in his Inbox.

Once user is granted access, he would need to open delegated mailbox in is Outlook. Read the Knowledge Base Article on How Do I Open A Shared Folder In Outlook?

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