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Delegating access to all or part of the mailbox (Inbox or Calendar)

Delegating access to all or part of the mailbox (Inbox or Calendar)

Owned by Fung, Odette A
Last updated: Feb 19, 2025 by Grosshandler, Mike
5 min read

Similar to having an assistant help you manage your incoming paper mail, you can use Outlook to allow another person, known as a delegate, to receive and respond to e-mail messages and meeting requests and responses on your behalf. You can also grant additional permissions that allow your delegate to read, create, or have more control over items in your mailbox.

About Delegate Access

Beyond merely sharing Outlook folders, Delegate Access enables you to grant additional permissions, such as allowing a delegate the ability to create e-mail messages or respond to meeting requests on your behalf.

Notes

  • As the manager, your mail must be delivered to your UAlbany Mail mailbox, not to an Outlook Data File (.pst) on your computer.

  • You and the delegate must use the same version of Outlook.

As the person granting permission ("manager"), you determine the level of access that the delegate has to your folders. You can grant a delegate permission to read items in your folders or to read, create, change, and delete items. By default, when you add a delegate, the delegate has full access to your Calendar and Tasks folders. The delegate can also respond to meeting requests on your behalf.

See What is the difference between sharing and delegate access? for more information.

Delegate Permission levels

Reviewer

With this permission, the delegate can read items in the manager's folder.

Author

With this permission, the delegate can read and create items, and change and delete items that he or she creates. For example, a delegate can create task requests and meeting requests directly in the manager's Task or Calendar folder and then send the item on the manager's behalf.

Editor

With this permission, the delegate can do everything that an Author has permission to do and additionally can change and delete the items that the manager created.

Turn on Delegate Access

A delegate automatically receives Send on Behalf permissions. By default, the delegate can read only the meeting requests and responses sent to the manager. The delegate does not have access to read any other messages in your Inbox.

  1. Click the File tab.

  2. Click Account Settings, and then click Delegate Access.

  3. Click Add.

I do not see the Add button

  • The Add button might not be visible because of one or more of the following:

  • An active connection does not exist between Outlook and UAlbany Mail. The Outlook status bar should display Connected to Microsoft Exchange or Online.

  • Your messages are not being delivered to your UAlbany Mail mailbox. Your e-mail must be delivered to your UAlbany Mail mailbox, not to an Outlook Data File (.pst) on your computer's local drive.

  1. Type the name of the person whom you want to designate as your delegate, or search for and then click the name in the search results list. The delegate must be a person in the Global Address List.

  2. Click Add, and then click OK.

  3. In the Delegate Permissions dialog box, you can accept the default permission settings or select custom access levels for Exchange folders.

If a delegate needs permission to work only with meeting requests and responses, the default permission settings, including Delegate receives copies of meeting-related messages sent to me, are sufficient. You can leave the Inbox permission setting at None. Meeting requests and responses will go directly to the delegate's Inbox.

  1. To send a message to notify the delegate of the changed permissions, select the Automatically send a message to delegate summarizing these permissions check box.

  2. If you want, select the Delegate can see my private items check box.

  1. Click OK.

Change permissions for your delegate

  1. Click the File tab.

  2. Click Account Settings, and then click Delegate Access.

  3. Click the name of the delegate for whom you want to change permissions, and then click Permissions.

  1. Change the permissions for any Outlook folder that the delegate has access to.

  2. To send a message to notify the delegate of the changed permissions, select the Automatically send a message to delegate summarizing these permissions check box.

Change delegate access to private items

If you have assigned permissions to a delegate so that he or she can access your Outlook folders, you can hide personal information in appointments, meetings, tasks, and contacts. Open each personal item, and on the Ribbon bar, in the Tags group, click Private.

If you want to give a delegate access to see your private items, do the following:

  1. Click the File tab.

  2. Click Account Settings, and then click Delegate Access.

  3. Click the name of the delegate for whom you want to change access to your private appointments, and then click Permissions.

  4. Select the Delegate can see my private items check box.