Cannot move "private" items in shared mailbox issue

Bill Tkach 86 Reputation points
2020-10-01T23:38:15.21+00:00

I found this link to a similar problem.

It's from 2012.

So now, it's 2020, I am using Outlook 365, with an on-premise server, and I still seem to have this issue.

We have a shared mailbox, lets call it HR.
This mailbox is shared between several people. Lets say one is Joe.
Joe logs into his Outlook account. He was setup with Full Access and Send Access in ECP, so technically should be able to do everything in the HR shared mailbox. He wants to move some files around within the HR mailbox. Not out of it to his mailbox, or somewhere else, but just WITHIN it.

However, he finds that for any folder that contains a folder within it, it gives an error message if he tries to move it. Or delete it.
The only solution that I have found is to manually recreate the new folder in the new location. You then have to copy the folders that reside in the original folder location to the new location, and copy any emails over. Sloppy and error prone.

Now I've seen some solutions that say you need to give people Delegate Access, by logging in as the Shared folder, and then right clicking the inbox, and setting Joe as a delegate, but this is Shared folder on Exchange. It doesn't have an account that lets you log on. And Joe already has Full/Send Access on the HR mailbox.

What is the solution here? I see this one, but I don't know how I would grant them rights to "Private items"

Outlook Management
Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server: A family of Microsoft client/server messaging and collaboration software.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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Accepted answer
  1. Yuki Sun-MSFT 41,201 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2020-10-02T02:48:18.773+00:00

    Hi @Bill Tkach

    he finds that for any folder that contains a folder within it, it gives an error message if he tries to move it. Or delete it.

    Is the error message the same with what was cited in the thread you shared? That is: "cannot move the items. Cannot copy this folder because it may contain private items" ?
    What's the version of your Exchange server?

    As per your concern about the possible solution that grant the rights to "Private items", please follow the steps below to set up the shared mailbox as a separate account so that you would be able the assign the "Private items" permission:

    1. Let's say you are granted with the Full Access permission to the shared mailbox "HR". Please create a new Outlook profile from ether Control Panel or within Outlook(File > Account Settings > Manage Profiles, click Show Profiles, choose "Prompt for a profile to be used", click Add), specify a name for the profile, such as "HR", click OK:
      29727-1.png
    2. In the Add account dialogue box, enter the name and the email address of the shared mailbox only, don't fill out the other fields:
      29812-2.png
    3. Click Next to proceed the configuration, click Finish.
    4. Restart Outlook using the new created profile, it will prompt you for your user credentials. You can now choose "More choices" > Use a different account, and then fill out your own username and password:
      29728-3.png
      29793-4.png
    5. Now you would be able to go to File > Account Settings > Delegate Access, and give the user delegate rights with the permission to see the private items:
      29832-5.png

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    4 people found this answer helpful.

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  1. AlphaSeb 0 Reputation points
    2024-10-18T10:20:49.35+00:00

    Simply do it via OWA.

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