Share and access another person's mailbox or folder in Outlook ***not working***

Question

I followed the steps from this article: Share and access another person's mailbox or folder in Outlook and they never got the confirmation email. We waited 24 hours, we also checked his junk/spam email. Permissions were set as a reviewer.

I've deleted the permissions and resent. What else can I try to do to get him access to my inbox?

-L

Answer 1

Dear Lisle,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I understand you're experiencing a problem sharing your mailbox or a specific folder with another person in Outlook, and they are not receiving the confirmation email despite setting permissions as a reviewer. You've already followed the article's steps, waited 24 hours, checked junk/spam, and even tried deleting and resending permissions. This can certainly be a bit vexing when you're trying to grant access. Here are some additional troubleshooting steps you can try:

1.Ask Recipient to Manually Add the Mailbox/Folder:

For shared mailboxes or delegated folders, the confirmation email is often just a notification. The recipient can often add the shared resource directly in Outlook if the permissions have successfully applied on the backend.

Instructions for recipient to try (if using Outlook Desktop App):

1. Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
2. Select his email account and click "Change...".
3. Click "More Settings...".
4. Go to the "Advanced" tab.
5. Under "Mailboxes," click "Add..."
6. Type your exact email address (the sender's mailbox that he needs to access) and click OK.
7. Click Apply, then OK, then Next, then Finish, then Close.
8. Your mailbox (or the shared folder if it's just a folder) should then appear in his Outlook folder list, usually below his own inbox.

2.Instructions for the recipient to try (if using Outlook on the Web - OWA):

1. Log in to his own Outlook on the Web account.
2. For a Shared Mailbox: Click on his profile picture in the top right corner, then select "Open another mailbox..." and type in the shared mailbox's name.
3. For a Shared Folder (e.g., your Inbox): Right-click on "Folders" (at the top of his folder list, just below "Favorites" if he has them), then choose "Add shared folder or mailbox." Enter your email address and click Add.

3.Check Your Sent Items:

After you grant permissions and click "Send Invitation" (if that option appears), check your own "Sent Items" folder to see if the invitation email actually left your mailbox. If it's not there, the email wasn't generated or sent from your side.

4.Try Granting Permissions with a Different Level (Temporarily for testing):

As a test, try granting "Editor" or "Publishing Editor" permissions instead of "Reviewer." Sometimes different permission levels might trigger the notification process differently, or it might just be easier for the system to process a more standard permission set. You can always revert it later.

5.Remove and Re-add Permissions via PowerShell (Requires Admin):

• If you have administrative access to your Microsoft 365 environment, or if you can contact your Microsoft 365 administrator, they can use PowerShell commands to ensure the permissions are set correctly and to bypass any GUI-related glitches.
• Example PowerShell for Admin (for folder sharing):
  • Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.
  • Add-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity "YourMailbox:\Inbox" -User "KevinConnell@example.com" -AccessRights Reviewer
  • An admin can also check the permissions directly using Get-MailboxFolderPermission.

Let me know how it goes after trying these steps. Please note that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

Kind regards, 

Kai-L - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Dear Lisle,

Just checking in to see if the above information was helpful. If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back.