Sharing Email Folders in Outlook

Sharing folders with other users in Office 365 is simple. There are a few steps that you need to take to ensure that your folders are shared successfully. Office 365 does not pass on permissions to sub-folders, and does not allow existing sub-folders to inherit permissions, so you will need to ensure that you have given proper permissions to the person(s) you are planning to share with for all folders to be shared. Office has several types of folder permissions, which you can see here:

• Owner - Full rights to the folder, including assigning permissions to others
• Publishing Editor - Create, read, edit, and delete all items, and create subfolders
• Editor - Create, read, edit, and delete all items, and create subfolders
• Publishing Author - Create and read items and subfolders, and edit and delete created items
• Author - Create and read items, and edit and delete items you create
• Non-editing Author - Create and read items, and delete items you create
• Reviewer - Read items only
• Contributor - Create items only (folder contents are not visible)
• Folder Visible – Can see the folder, but cannot see or change its contents.
• None - No permissions (you cannot open the folder)

For any folder you wish to share, you will need to give at least Folder Visible access to the parent folder(s), including the Inbox if needed.

To share folders from the Outlook Desktop application:

1. Right click on the parent folder of the one you want to share, and select 'Properties'.
2. Select the Permissions tab, and add users with Add. For each added user, select them in the Permissions list and change their permissions with the Permission Level dropdown menu, then click Apply.
3. Repeat for any sub-folders as needed.

To share folders from the Outlook Web application:

1. Right click on the parent folder for the one you want to share, and select "Permissions"
2. In the Permissions window that appears, add users with the plus icon ("+"). For each added user, select them in the Permissions list and change their permissions with the Permission Level dropdown menu, then click OK.
3. Repeat for any sub-folders as needed.

How to add the shared folder to Outlook Desktop

1. In Outlook, click on File, and then Open & Export.
2. Select another User’s Folder and enter the email address of the folder owner.
3. Click OK, and it will be added as a folder to your account.

How to add the shared folder in Outlook Web application:

1. Right click on the folder with your name and select "Add Shared Folder..."
2. Enter the email of the folder owner.
3. Click add.

A few troubleshooting notes:

• Outlook only allows folder sharing for folders that are nested under your inbox. If you have a folder that is nested under your main account, you must drag and drop it under your inbox to share it.
• You must give at least Folder Visible permission to your Inbox in order to facilitate the share. This does not give the user access to your inbox, or any of the messages in it.
• If you have shared a folder, any new folders you create will inherit the folder sharing level. So, if you give 'Reviewer' access to your Inbox, the sub-folders you create will also give the same permissions to the same users. These can be controlled or removed on a folder-by-folder basis.