Carnegie Mellon University

How To Use a Shared Mailbox

A shared mailbox is a central email address that multiple people can access and manage from their own Google Mail accounts. It allows for collaborative handling of emails and calendar invitations.

A shared mailbox functions similarly to your primary mailbox but can only be accessed through delegation. It offers a Google Mail mailbox and calendar, but does not include any other Google services. It also excludes any features that require a login, as it is not associated with its own password.

  1. Log in to your CMU Google Mail with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  2. Click the profile icon with your initial or picture (upper right).
  3. Select your shared mailbox from the list that displays. 

Shared mailbox owners can add and remove members following the steps below:

  1. Go to emailtools.cmu.edu.
  2. Log in with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  3. Click Shared Mailboxes.
  4. Select the shared mailboxes you want to manage.
  5. Add or remove the Andrew userID in the correct field.
  6. Changes may take up to 4 hours. 

Note: Adding someone as an Owner allows access to add and remove individuals from the mailbox. Adding someone as a Delegate enables them to view, send, delete, and move messages in the mailbox. 

Follow these steps to see both your personal emails and your shared mailbox emails all on the same screen, but in different, clearly defined areas. This prevents you from having to switch between accounts to see what's new in your shared mailbox.

Step 1: Set Up Your Primary Mailbox to Respond as the Shared Mailbox

This step will help you set up your primary mailbox to reply to messages as either yourself or the shared mailbox. Note: If you don't need this functionality, jump to Step 2. 

  1. Log in to your CMU Google Mail with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
  2. Click Settings (upper right) and then click See all settings.
  3. Click Accounts and Import.
  4. Under the Send mail as section, click Add another email address.
  5. Enter the address of your shared mailbox, then click Next Step.
  6. If prompted, click Send Verification.
  7. You will receive an email with a link in your Andrew email inbox. Click the link to verify.
  8. Click Confirm. If desired, change your settings to always respond from the account the message was sent to.
  9. You can customize your Send mail as to Reply from the same address the mail was sent to.

Step 2: Enable Forwarding from your Shared Mailbox

Next, you’ll set up your shared mailbox to forward a copy of all messages received to your primary mailbox.

  1. Click your profile icon (upper right) and select your shared mailbox.
  2. Click Settings (upper right) and then click See all settings.
  3. Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
  4. Click Add a forwarding address.
  5. Enter your primary Andrew email address to which you would like to forward messages sent to your shared mailbox.
  6. Click Next > Proceed > OK to continue.
  7. In another tab, return to your primary mailbox. Click the link in the confirmation email you received to confirm mail forwarding.
  8. Return to your shared mailbox. Under the Forwarding section:
    1. Click Forward a copy of incoming mail to.
    2. Select your primary CMU email mailbox.
    3. Select Keep Gmail’s copy in inbox to leave a copy of the messages in your shared mailbox.
  9. Click Save Changes (bottom) to apply the mail forwarding.
  10. Click your Shared Mailbox.

Step 3: Set Up Multiple Inboxes (Option 1)

This step will allow you to separate the mail in your inbox into two or more separate sections.

  1. Click Settings (upper right) > See all settings > Inbox.
  2. Click the Inbox Type drop-down and select Multiple Inboxes.
  3. Under Multiple Inbox Sections, under Search query, enter to: YourSharedMailboxEmail@andrew.cmu.edu
  4. Under Section Name, enter a name for the shared mailbox.
    1. Note: This is just for use in your mailbox. The title will not be visible to anyone else.
  5. Modify the other items on the page as preferred to:
    1. Adjust the position of the inboxes
    2. Add importance markers
    3. Override mail filters
  6. Save Changes.

Step 4: Send Shared Mailbox Mail to a Label (Option 2)

If you prefer not to have multiple inboxes, you can set up a filter to automatically label and remove shared mailbox messages from your inbox.

  1. Click the Search field and select Show search options.
  2. Click From and enter the shared mailbox email address.
  3. Click To and enter the shared mailbox email address.
  4. Click Create Filter.
  5. Click Skip the Inbox (Archive it).
  6. Click Apply the label and choose an existing label or create a new one with your shared mailbox name.
  7. Click Also apply to matching conversations.
  8. Click Create Filter to apply the message. There may be a brief delay while the change is applied.

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact the Help Center for assistance with updating the mailbox display name. 

Yes. If you require an individual "seen" state and don't need the shared calendar, you may want to consider using a Google Group instead of a shared mailbox.
Complete the Request a Google Mail Shared Mailbox form.