Delegated Mailbox: Email Delegation vs Shared Mailbox
A delegated mailbox lets your team share one email address without sharing passwords, free in Gmail and Outlook. Setup guide + how to track performance.
Managing team email without sharing passwords is one of the most common challenges for customer support, sales, and HR teams. A delegated mailbox solves this and it's built into Gmail and Microsoft 365 at no extra cost. This guide covers what a delegated mailbox is, how it differs from a shared mailbox, and how to set one up on both platforms.
For a complete overview of shared mailboxes and how they work, see our shared mailbox complete guide. For Gmail-specific setup, see our Google Workspace shared mailbox guide.
What is a delegated mailbox?
A delegated mailbox is an email account where the owner grants one or more people, delegates, permission to read, send, and manage emails on their behalf, without sharing their password.
Each delegate uses their own login credentials to access the mailbox. Everything they send appears as coming from the shared address, and all activity is tracked individually, giving you both collaboration and accountability.
Delegated mailboxes are built into Gmail and Microsoft 365 and are widely used by:
→ Customer support teams — to manage a shared support@ or help@ address without password sharing
→ Sales teams — to collaborate on a shared sales@ inbox and avoid duplicate replies
→ HR departments — to manage a shared hr@ address for job applications and employee queries→ Executive assistants — to manage an executive's inbox and calendar on their behalf
What is the difference between a delegated mailbox and a shared mailbox?
The terms are often used interchangeably, but they refer to slightly different setups.
For a detailed comparison of shared mailbox options, see our shared mailbox vs distribution list guide.
Why use a delegated mailbox?
Keep relevant emails together
Instead of forwarding emails when you need a colleague's input, which creates clutter and risks exposing previous replies, everyone sees the same threads from their own inbox. Everything stays in one place.
Give customers one easy way to contact you
A generic address like support@company.com, sales@company.com, or hello@company.com is how people expect to reach any professional organization. A delegated mailbox makes this possible without creating a separate system.
Keep your team accountable
Delegated mailboxes bring transparency across the team, everyone can see what's been handled and by whom. This is especially useful for onboarding new team members and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Improve responsiveness
A shared address means any available team member can pick up incoming emails immediately, no waiting for a specific person to log in or forward the message.
Divide workload and track conversations
Team leads can see exactly how conversations are progressing and redistribute workload when one person is overloaded. For sales teams, this prevents duplicate replies and missed opportunities.
How do you set up a delegated mailbox in Microsoft 365?
Microsoft 365 offers two delegation options — Send As and Send on Behalf of. For team use with full analytics visibility, use Send on Behalf of.
- Go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center (admin.microsoft.com)
- Navigate to Users → Active users
- Select the user whose mailbox you want to delegate
- Click the Mail tab → Manage mailbox permissions
- Next to Send on behalf, click Edit
- Click Add permissions → select the users who should have delegate access
- Click Add
For complete setup instructions including automapping and mobile access, see our shared mailbox in Outlook guide.
How do you set up a delegated mailbox in Gmail and Google Workspace?
Gmail delegation takes under 5 minutes and requires no admin access for basic setup.
- Open Gmail on desktop (delegation requires desktop — not mobile)
- Click the Settings gear icon → See all settings
- Go to the Accounts and Import tab
- Under Grant access to your account, click Add another account
- Enter the email address of the person you want to add as a delegate
- Click Next Step → Send email to grant access
- The delegate receives a confirmation email — they must accept it
- Allow up to 24 hours for access to become active
How do you view a delegated mailbox in Gmail?
Once delegation is set up, delegates can access the mailbox by clicking the account dropdown in the top-right corner of Gmail and selecting the delegated account, it opens in a new tab.
How do you view a delegated mailbox in Outlook?
In Outlook, the delegated mailbox appears automatically in the left navigation pane once permissions have propagated (up to 60 minutes). If it doesn't appear, go to File → Account Settings → Change → More Settings → Advanced → Add and enter the mailbox address manually.
For complete Google Workspace setup including Collaborative Inbox, see our Google Workspace shared mailbox guide.
How do you get analytics from a delegated mailbox?
This is the biggest limitation of delegated mailboxes and shared mailboxes in general.
Neither Gmail nor Microsoft 365 shows you:
- How long your team takes to respond to emails in the delegated mailbox
- Which delegate is handling the most volume
- How many emails have received no reply in the last 48 hours
- Whether you're meeting your response time SLA targets
Without this data, managing a delegated mailbox means checking whether the inbox looks busy — not whether customers are actually getting fast, consistent responses.
Email Meter connects to your delegated mailbox on Gmail or Microsoft 365 and tracks all of these automatically:
Real-world result: Payday HCM used Email Meter to monitor 5 shared mailboxes handling 200+ daily emails and cut response times from 5 hours to 2 hours — a 71% improvement. "Once you're able to actually see your stats, it gives you the ability to see if you're doing a good job, and who is really doing the work." — Lisa Reynolds, Operations Manager
For a complete guide on monitoring shared mailbox and delegated mailbox performance, see our how to monitor a shared mailbox guide.
Start tracking your delegated mailbox performance →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a delegated mailbox?
A delegated mailbox is an email account where access is granted to one or more team members without sharing the account password. Each delegate uses their own credentials to access the mailbox, read emails, and send replies on behalf of the account. It's built into Gmail and Microsoft 365 at no extra cost.
What is the difference between a delegated mailbox and a shared mailbox?
A delegated mailbox is typically an existing account with access granted to others. A shared mailbox is a dedicated address created specifically for team use. Both allow multiple people to manage one email address without password sharing. The main practical difference is setup — shared mailboxes in Microsoft 365 are created from scratch, while delegated mailboxes grant access to an existing account.
How do you view a delegated mailbox in Gmail?
Click the account dropdown in the top-right corner of Gmail and select the delegated account. It opens in a new tab. Setup requires the owner to grant access via Settings → Accounts and Import → Grant access to your account.
How do you view a delegated mailbox in Outlook?
Once your admin grants delegate access, the mailbox appears automatically in the left navigation pane within 60 minutes. If not visible, go to File → Account Settings → Change → More Settings → Advanced → Add and enter the mailbox address manually.
How many delegates can you add in Gmail?
Up to 10 delegates in personal Gmail. Up to 1,000 delegates in Google Workspace organizations. Google recommends limiting simultaneous active users to around 40 for performance reasons.
Can you track performance in a delegated mailbox?
Not natively, Gmail and Outlook don't show response times, workload distribution, or SLA compliance for delegated mailboxes. Email Meter connects to your delegated mailbox via API and tracks all of these automatically, with weekly reports delivered to managers every Monday.
Is a delegated mailbox secure?
Yes, significantly more secure than sharing a password. Each delegate accesses the mailbox with their own credentials, every action is individually tracked, and access can be revoked instantly without changing the main account password.
