Working with Generic and Shared Mailboxes

In this article:

What is a generic email account?

• A generic email account can be used for specific departments and/or teams. It allows multiple authorized users to log in and send emails on behalf of the generic account.

• The generic username and its associated email address must clearly identify the organizational unit within the University that is responsible for it (e.g. ist-test). The friendly email address should contain the faculty/department name, and if the account is a position, it should be followed by a period, followed by position. Some examples of the friendly address of generic accounts include pharmacy.director, computerscience.director, gradstudies.info, housing. For more information about friendly email addresses, please refer to Friendly Email Address FAQ's

• Any request for a generic email address that does not comply with these rules must be approved by CTSC.

Requesting a Generic M365 account with a shared mailbox

To have a new generic account created, please submit a request and include the following information in your request:

1. The 8-character UWaterloo username of the generic account

2. Name of your faculty or academic support department

3. Provide full names and 8-character UWaterloo usernames of all individuals who will be granted shared-mailbox permissions.

   1. These people will be members of the security groups.

   2. Members can be added or removed as responsibilities change.

   3. A request must be submitted to IST for all security group changes. (Note: Users from faculty areas, need to contact their IT support for the security group changes)

4. Specify which shared-mailbox permissions are required. The choices are ‘Full Access & Send As’ or ‘Full Access’.

Accessing a shared mailbox

• From a web browser: How to access shared account in a browser - users with M365 email accounts

• From Outlook (Windows/Mac) or Thunderbird: see Shared Mailboxes

Sending from the shared mailbox

If you have requested "SendAs" permissions, then you will be able to send messages where the From address is the address of the Shared Mailbox.

1. In the New Message composition window, click on the [From…] button in the message header.

   1. If the [From…] button is not displayed you can add it.

   2. Outlook: At the top of the composition window click-on Options > Show Fields > From.

   3. Outlook Web App (OWA): Click the three dots for the menu, click on Show From

2. From the Global Address List (GAL) select the generic account username that you are sending on behalf of.

Sent messages will automatically be stored in the Sent Items folder of the default Exchange server email account (the actual sender’s Exchange mailbox). The generic account can be configured to store sent messages in either the sender's mailbox or the generic mailbox.

The sent message can be manually moved or copied into the Sent Items folders of the shared account’s mailbox if so desired.

Adding a shared mailbox to Outlook

It is possible to add the Shared Mailbox to your Outlook profile for easier access. Note that sent messages will be saved into your own Sent Items folder by default but this can be changed in the settings for the generic mailbox. See the support articles for adding shared mailboxes to Outlook. 

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