---
title: Open a shared Mail, Calendar or People folder in Outlook for Mac
description: "When another Microsoft Outlook user grants you permission to his or her calendar, you can open it in Outlook. If you do not have permission, a permission request email message is sent to the other person. **Important: ** A Microsoft Exchange Server account is…"
url: "https://cleversupport.ca/docs/outlook-for-mac/open-a-shared-mail-calendar-or-people-folder-in-outlook-for-mac/"
updated: "2024-02-01"
category: Microsoft 365 / Office 365 / Outlook 365 / Outlook for Mac
---

# Open a shared Mail, Calendar or People folder in Outlook for Mac

When another Microsoft Outlook user grants you permission to his or her calendar, you can open it in Outlook. If you do not have permission, a permission request email message is sent to the other person.

**Important: ** A Microsoft Exchange Server account is required.

New Outlook for Mac

## Open a Shared Calendar

1. On the **File** menu, point to **Open**, and select **Other User's Folder**...
2. In the **Folder Type** list, choose **Inbox**, **Calendar**, or **Address Book**. **Note: **In the new Outlook for Mac, you can only choose calendar.
3. In the Search box, type the name of the person who granted you access, select the person's name in the search results, and choose **Open**.

   The shared Mail folder appears under folders.
   The shared Calendar appears in the Folder pane under the Shared Calendars heading.
   The shared Address Book appears in the Folder pane under the Shared Contacts heading.

**Notes: **

- If you receive the message "Outlook was redirected to the server autodiscover-s.outlook.com to get new settings for your account." choose **Always use my response for this server** and select **Allow**.
- If you have a shared folder selected in the Folder pane, new items that you create are saved in that shared folder.
- To remove another user's shared folder from your Folder pane, hold down Control, select the folder, and then choose **Remove Shared Account.**

## Open a Shared or Delegated Mailbox

Use this method if you are a delegate for another user’s mailbox or when you have permissions to several folders in a shared mailbox. You can also use this method when you have full access permissions to a mailbox.

To open the shared mailbox:

1. In the **Tools** menu, choose **Accounts**, and select the account that has access to the mailbox.
2. Select**Delegation and Sharing**
3. Choose **Shared With Me** tab
4. Choose **+** to add a shared or delegated mailbox **Note: ** If you have permissions to custom folders in the mailbox but not to the top-level mailbox folder, the custom folders will not appear in the folder list. Only default folders that you have permissions to, such as Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items, and Calendar, will appear in the folder list without top-level mailbox folder permissions.
5. Alternatively, you can also go to **File** > **Open**> **Shared Mailbox**, to open a shared or delegated mailbox.

Older versions

Choose the appropriate option depending on whether the mailbox is shared with you or you are a delegate for another user's mailbox. 

**Notes: **

- When you use any of these methods, the shared mailbox account is added as an option in the **From** field when you compose emails. This lets you select the account in the **From** field regardless of whether you have permissions to send from this account. If you do not have "Send As" or "Send On Behalf of" permissions for the account, email from the account will not be sent.
- Outlook for Mac does not support Auto-mapping of shared mailboxes.

## A folder is shared with you

If another user has shared an inbox, primary calendar folder, or primary contact folder with you, use this method to open the user's folder.

To open the shared folder:

1. On the **File** menu, point to **Open**, and then click **Other User's Folder**.
2. Click **Find User** .
3. Type the name of the person who granted you access, click **Find**, click the person's name, and then click **OK**.
4. If you have multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts, on the **Account **pop-up menu, click the account that you want to use to open the other user's folder.
5. On the **Type** pop-up menu, click **Calendar**, **Address****Book**, or **Inbox**, and then click **OK**.
6. The shared folder appears in the navigation pane under the **Shared **heading.

## You are a delegate for another user's mailbox

Use this method if you are a delegate for another user's mailbox or when you have permissions to several folders in a shared mailbox. You can also use this method when you have full access permissions to a mailbox.

To open the shared mailbox:

1. On the **Tools**menu, click **Accounts **> **Advanced**> **Delegates**.
2. Add the mailbox under **Open these additional mailboxes**

**Note: **If you have permissions to custom folders in the mailbox but not to the top-level mailbox folder, the custom folders will not appear in the folder list. Only default folders that you have permissions to, such as Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items, and Calendar, will appear in the folder list without top-level mailbox folder permissions.

![Delegates settings in account advanced settings](https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/261c587d-2605-44fa-8f20-24796a2b2773.png)

## You have full access permissions to a shared mailbox

When you have Full Access permission to a shared mailbox—that is, Full Access permission of a mailbox set up through Exchange Admin Center (EAC)—you can add the shared mailbox with your own credentials.

To open the shared mailbox:

1. On the **Tools**menu, click **Accounts**.
2. Click the Plus Sign to add an additional Exchange account.
3. In the **E-mail address**field, enter the email address of the shared mailbox.
4. Under **Authentication**, enter your own credentials.

**Note: **To see how to set up Full Access permission, see [How to grant Exchange and Outlook mailbox permissions in Office 365 dedicated](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2572646/how-to-grant-exchange-and-outlook-mailbox-permissions-in-office-365-de).

Checking the setting **Sync shared mailbox** will allow Outlook to synchronize the shared mailbox without requiring the user to click **Send/Receive**. This setting was added in version 16.13.411. Enabling this setting is highly recommended for users who use their own credentials to access a shared mailbox.

![Sync a shared mailbox](https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/d0f4dd9f-ef78-4d12-b253-8c709eec3e1b.png)

## Permissions for shared folders and mailboxes

The following table summarizes the permissions options that may be available for a shared folder or mailbox, and the best method for opening the shared folder or mailbox based on the corresponding permission.

| Level of permission to shared folder or shared mailbox | Method to open shared folder or mailbox |
| --- | --- |
| Folder-level permission to the Inbox, Calendar or Address Book primary folder | Open other user's folder |
| Delegate permission to a mailbox | Add the mailbox under "Open these additional mailboxes" under account advanced settings |
| Folder-level permission to the Task and Note primary folders | Add the mailbox under "Open these additional mailboxes" under account advanced settings |
| Top-level mailbox level permission to access the top-level folder and other custom folders | Add the mailbox under "Open these additional mailboxes" under account advanced settings |
| "Full Access" permission to a mailbox on Exchange | Use your own credentials to add an additional Exchange account |

## Opening additional mailboxes

As an alternative to these methods, you can add another Exchange account by using *additional* mailboxes credentials. This method is not recognized as adding a shared mailbox, because you are adding the additional account by using its own credentials. To open the additional Exchange account, follow these steps:

1. On the **Tools**menu, click **Accounts**.
2. Click the plus sign and then click **New Account** to add an additional Exchange account.
3. In the **E-mail address** field, enter the email address of the shared mailbox.
4. Under **Authentication**, enter the credentials for the shared mailbox.