Shared inbox: how to set one up in Gmail and Outlook

A shared inbox is one inbox that a team answers from together. Messages to an address like hello@ or support@ arrive in one place for everyone to see. Replies go out from the business address. A good one also shows who owns each message, so nothing gets answered twice or missed.

If your email runs on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, you may already have one available. The steps below follow Microsoft’s and Google’s help pages as of October 2026.

Shared inbox vs shared mailbox vs group email

Three different setups go by the name “shared inbox,” and they behave differently:

Group email. A distribution list or forward copies each message into several personal inboxes. Everyone gets the message, but nobody else can see who replied.
Shared mailbox. One mailbox that several people open. Replies come from hello@, and everyone works from the same messages. Microsoft calls it a shared mailbox, and Google now calls its version a shared inbox.
Shared inbox tool. A shared mailbox with team features on top, such as assigning a message to one person and leaving notes. Many tools also bring in social and chat messages.

Group email is where most small teams start. It breaks once two people answer the same customer, or each assumes the other did.

How to set up a shared inbox in Outlook

Outlook’s version is called a shared mailbox. You need a Microsoft 365 business plan that includes email and an account with the Exchange admin role. According to Microsoft’s guide:

In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Teams & Groups, then Shared mailboxes.
Select Add a shared mailbox and enter a name. The name sets the email address, which you can edit.
Select Save changes. It may take a few minutes before you can add members.
Under Next steps, select Add members to this mailbox and pick the people who’ll answer.

In the Outlook desktop app, the mailbox usually appears after members close and reopen Outlook. In Outlook on the web or on a phone, each member adds it once.

Microsoft’s limits matter for a growing team. A shared mailbox needs no license up to 50 GB. It supports up to 25 users, and only people in your organization can use it. You also can’t stop members from deleting messages.

There’s no built-in way to assign a message to one person, so agree on a habit instead. For example, whoever takes a message moves it into a folder with their name.

How to set up a shared inbox in Gmail

Google is adding a real shared inbox to Gmail. As of October 2026 it’s for Business Starter, Business Standard and Business Plus. Google is releasing it in phases, so your account may not have it yet. An admin sets it up:

Sign in to the Google Admin console.
In the Users section of the Home page, click Set up a shared email address.
Enter the shared address, such as hello@, and add the people who’ll answer.
Click Next to review them, then Done. People added without clicking Next don’t get access.

You can also turn an existing address into a shared inbox from the same screen. Members read, send and delete messages in their own Gmail. Each reply shows hello@ in From and the teammate who wrote it in Sent by. It doesn’t assign messages to people.

If you don’t see Set up a shared email address, Google suggests delegation for now. There’s also an older option in Google Groups.

Delegation. With Gmail delegation, other people read and send from one account with their own login. In Gmail on a computer, open Settings, then See all settings, then Accounts and Import. Under Grant access to your account, click Add another account. A personal Gmail account allows up to 10 delegates and a work account up to 1,000. It can take up to 24 hours to start working. On a work account, your admin may need to turn delegation on.

A collaborative inbox in Google Groups. This one can assign. A group owner turns it on under Group settings, then Enable additional Google Groups features, following Google’s steps. Members can then assign a conversation to a teammate, who gets an email about it, and mark it complete, a duplicate or no action needed. The catch is that the work happens in Google Groups, not in Gmail.

Shared inbox options compared

Option	Replies show	Assign messages	Main limit
Outlook shared mailbox	The shared address	No	25 users, inside your organization
Gmail shared inbox	The shared address, plus who sent it	No	Business Starter, Standard and Plus, still rolling out
Gmail delegation	The teammate’s address	No	10 delegates on personal Gmail
Shared inbox tool	Usually the shared address	Yes	Paid, priced by the tool

For two or three people answering email, the option from your email provider is often enough.

When a shared inbox tool is worth paying for

The options above handle email only. Customers also write on social apps and the chat on your website, and those messages end up on whoever’s phone has the app.

A tool is worth it once messages come from more than one channel, or once you can’t tell at a glance what’s still waiting. When you compare tools, check for these:

Every channel in one list. Email, Instagram, WhatsApp and chat, answered from the same place.
Assignment. Each conversation has one named owner.
Internal notes. Comments your team sees and the customer doesn’t.
Status. Open, waiting and done, so the inbox shows what’s left.
Customer history. Past conversations next to the new message, whatever the channel.

For channel-specific setups, see our guides to managing Instagram DMs as a team and WhatsApp Business with multiple users.

How Wibbu fits

Wibbu, the inbox we’re building, is a shared inbox for email, Instagram, WhatsApp and website chat. A built-in CRM keeps each customer’s history next to the conversation. AI answers routine questions from your own information and passes the rest to your team with a drafted reply. Automations, flows and integrations take care of the repeat work.

Common questions

Is a shared inbox the same as a shared mailbox? Close. A shared mailbox is Microsoft’s name for one email account that a team opens together. “Shared inbox” is the wider term, and it often means a tool that adds assignment and other channels.

Can I create a shared inbox in Gmail? Yes, on Google Workspace Business Starter, Standard or Plus, once the feature reaches your account. Your admin sets it up in the Admin console. On personal Gmail, delegation is the simplest option.

Does a Microsoft 365 shared mailbox need a license? Not up to 50 GB. Each person who opens it needs their own licensed mailbox, and a bigger mailbox needs an Exchange Online Plan 2 license.

How many people can use an Outlook shared mailbox? Microsoft supports up to 25 users. For more, it recommends a Microsoft 365 group instead.