As already pointed out in our other article, in today’s world sharing is literally everything. We have also learned how to use Office 365 to share personal calendars as well as create a common shared calendar (via ). What about contacts then?
How to share contacts with others in Office 365? It is possible to share contacts in Office 365, however available options are limited as compared to calendar sharing. A major downside is that contacts folder sharing is not possible in OWA. To share your personal contacts you have to use MS Outlook.
The process is pretty straightforward:. In Outlook, select a contacts folder you would like to share and right-click it. In the context menu select Share then Share contacts. The sharing invitation pops up. In the To field type in names or emails of users you would like to share your contacts folder with. You can also enable these users to edit contents of the shared folder – to do so simply mark the Recipient can add, edit, and delete items in this contacts folder option below. Below you can enter a short message if you wish.
Click Send. All selected in the invitation recipients receive a new message with the Open this Contacts Folder button on top. Once they click it – new contacts folder appears in Shared Contacts section of the People pane. The folder is named after the user who shared it.
Unfortunately, you can’t open such invitation on OWA – opening shared contacts folder is not supported. Share contacts in Office 365 using shared mailbox Sharing your personal contacts folder is not the only available method – you can also use a shared mailbox functionality.
Aug 5, 2011 - If so, the delegate just needs to open your mailbox as a secondary mailbox. Check the Folder visible box only. The mailbox you added is now in your folder list and the calendars you. View Shared Mailboxes in Outlook Mac. Author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. Negative conflict becomes drama. “Drama is the mismanaging of the energy of conflict. It diverts energy towards the pursuit of self-justification, one of the strongest human urges and the one that almost always gets us into trouble.” (Chapter 2 on drama is one of the clearest discussions of drama I’ve read.).
The process of creating the shared mailbox in Office 365 is identical to creating a group calendar. Make sure you have administrative privileges, as they are required to do this:. Sign in with your Office 365 administrative credentials to EAC (Exchange Admin Center). Go to Recipients, and then Shared tab. Click Add (little plus icon).
Type the name of the mailbox (e.g. Company Share) in the Display name field. Copy that name to the email address name (you can use a different name if you wish). In the Send as list, you can add users with the permission to send emails from this shared mailbox. Click Save.
Click twice on your shared mailbox to open its properties window. Click Mailbox delegation. Under Full Access, click the add button and select users who you want to grant full access rights to the shared mailbox. Once you select the users, click Save.
You have just created a shared mailbox. A good thing is that for users specified as having full access to it, Outlook automatically displays shared folders of this mailbox.
If the user opens the People pane in Outlook, there should be a contacts folder visible with the greyish name of the shared mailbox next to it. Again, the problem arises if you want to use OWA. It simply does not support opening contacts folder from the shared mailbox. Outlook is the only option.
External sharing with another Office 365 organization Sadly contacts are also more limited than calendar folders in this scenario. Sharing externally is available only when two organizations are federated.
Otherwise, it is only possible to work around this limitation using 3rd party tools. For instance, lets you bridge separate Office 365 organizations by creating a virtual network of Microsft Outlook instances across multiple sites or domains (the only requirement is Internet access). With the program installed all users are able to. Summary It is somewhat surprising that calendar sharing in Office 365 is treated better than contacts sharing. You can open a shared calendar in a web browser, use OWA to access or share it.
You can even open a shared mailbox’s calendar in OWA. Contact folders lack all of these features. In the mobile age, BYOD world, and cloud era sharing is not just a buzz-word. It is a must. Contacts sharing is almost as important as email communication and as pointed out above, not so well implemented in Office 365. Let’s hope that this will change soon.
Want to unify email signatures in your Office 365 organization? It may not have worked before, but today MS support showed me how you can actually display contacts from a »shared mailbox« in OWA (or Outlook on the Web, as it is called now): You have to open the »shared mailbox« in a separate browser tab/window. Just go to your user icon on the top right of the window, click »Open another mailbox« and search for the shared mailbox or type in its name. The shared mailbox appears in a new browser tab and let’s you edit contacts. I spent a lot of time looking for a solution and it seems I found it. Some things are really well hidden in Office 365.
Hi Peter, If you want to add users from your Office 365 domain to your Contacts folder in Outlook, follow these steps: 1. While in the Contacts folder in Outlook, press CTRL+SHIFT+B or click the Addres Book button on the ribbon (should be on the far right) 2. Highlight all contacts and groups you want to add to the folder (hold SHIFT to highlight multiple items) 3. Right-click on the selection and click Add to Contacts See this article for more: As to sharing a folder with multiple users – the only alternative to adding them one by one, is to share the folder with a group that includes them. This can be a group that you created locally in Outlook or a server-level group.
Let me know if this helps, Adam. Hi Adam, Regarding your response to Daniel and Rob about shared contacts not being usable when sending from a primary account – what are they used for then? If we can’t use addresses from a shared folder, what does Microsoft intend for us to use the shared contacts for? Why can’t Bob share a contact folder with Alice so she can send email to those people too? That really doesn’t work? Sorry to ask such a basic question, but this kind of thing is hard to get an answer from Google. We were a Groupwise shop until last year, and today is the first time I’ve had someone ask about sharing a contact folder (what Groupwise calls an “Address Book”) with someone else.
I tested a few things, then started Googling when things weren’t working in an intuitive way. Your blog was one of the few that seemed to have a live person anywhere near it, so I thought I’d ask. Thanks, Dave. We are using the OWA iPhone app to get around this. A new mailbox will be created and the users that want to see the shared contacts for this mailbox can use the OWA app to access it. The cool thing about the OWA app is that the search function supports finding contacts that have been categorized.
We plan to categorize all the contacts and the search feature is excellent. I know this does not scale well, but it will work for us in this situation. The other option is to have the users create a new mail account on the phone and connect to this account. No category support this way however. I suspect we will have to dedicate a license to this account as I do not believe you can logon to a public mailbox.
E-mail, like calendars, is something that is very personal. Over the years, email has morphed from a way to send electronic letters to turning into the digital hub of all we do online. Your Facebook account is tied to an email. Your Amazon account is tied to an email. Everything is tied to your email.
Email accounts are also difficult to change. Once you have it signed up with multiple services, moving from it is like moving your physical address. I’ve seen this first hand when folks leave the school I work at. I usually give them a few days to tie everything up, but many of them have used it as a personal account for years despite my warnings not to, so it becomes a difficult transition. Like Calendar apps, there are many email apps for iPhone.
I’ve tried and used just about all of them over the years. One of the questions people often ask me is: what’s your favorite email app for iPhone?
I always say: it depends. I have my favorite, but it may not line up with the way you manage email. On the other hand, an app may have features you rely on that I don’t need. I’m going to show you each app, and I’ll give you my pick at the end. If you don’t agree – that is perfectly okay. Let me know what you think in the comments. One thing to keep in mind, I am looking at iPhone only.
Some apps work better if you use their macOS counterpart, but I am just looking at the iPhone experience. Apple Mail I’d dare to say that the Apple Mail email app is one of the most used email apps in the world today. It comes built into every iPhone, and it supports just about any account type you’d like.
It’s easy to start new messages. It’s fast to do tasks like archive, delete, move to folders, etc. It’s easy to add attachments/photos to email. As far as traditional email clients go, it’s about the best you could ask for.
My concern is that a lot of other apps are innovating with email. Apple’s app covers the “stock” experience (sending, reading, etc.) very well, but it lacks snooze, quick replies, and other features that should be added. A few weeks ago, I wrote about four features I’d love to see come to Apple’s mail app.
That list came out of this article. I won’t repeat those here, but I would go read it. Apple Mail works great, but a lot of apps are rethinking email where Apple is settling for the standard-quo. I know it’s difficult to innovate when a lot of users want the basic experience, but it’s long past time for Apple to add power user features to Apple Mail on iOS (and macOS). Outlook – If you are used to Outlook on PC or Mac, you’ll be surprised how much different Outlook on iOS is when you first launch it. It’s not the traditional Outlook, but a reimagining of what it should be.
Microsoft bought back in 2014, and launched the original version in. They’ve kept enhancing it since then.
If you want to find an app that feels like Apple Mail+, Outlook is it. It includes a smart inbox (sort between important emails and non-important ones). It contains customizable swipes (delete, archive, etc).
You can also schedule messages to show back up in your inbox. This feature is useful if you want to make an email disappear until you are back at work, etc. It includes a built-in Calendar (negating the need for a separate ) that can pull in iCloud, Google, Exchange, Outlook, and Yahoo calendars.
Because it integrates everything into a single app, you can easily share availability for meetings right inside the app. It also can work with third-party apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, Trello, and more. Overall, Outlook is awesome. It’s free, works with all the major accounts you’ll have, and provides a lot of great features.
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Airmail – Airmail has been around for many years, and it’s one of the most common third-party mail apps that people mention. Airmail supports all the major email accounts like iCloud, Exchange, Outlook, Google, Yahoo, IMAP, etc. I originally tried Airmail when it was first released, and it has seen a constant stream of updates since then.
Airmail features an extensive list of apps to integrate with. The list includes Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Trello, Asana, Omnifocus, Google Tasks, Evernote, Todoist, Drafts, Deliveries, Things, Calendar 5, and many more. Like Outlook, Airmail supports snoozing an email to another date/time. You can create a PDF from an email, mute/block senders, or create a to-do (Airmail offers a lightweight to-do list built in). The action list of items you can take on a message is long. Design wise, Airmail has done a great job of staying with iOS design trends while having its unique style. It stands out from any other app you’ll use, and it’s overall pleasant to look at.
The last thing I want to say about Airmail is almost everything is customizable. If you want an email app with a lot of knobs to tinker with, Airmail is going to fit in with your workflows. Spark – Spark is one of the newcomers to the third party email app market, but it has had constant enhancements since it was released. Their tagline is “Love your email again,” and it certainly does a great job of helping you take control of your inbox. It supports all the usual accounts like iCloud, Google, Yahoo, Exchange, Outlook, and IMAP.
Feature-wise, Spark includes a smart inbox to help organize your email into buckets like newsletters, pinned, new, seen, etc. It also includes the ability to snooze emails, send later, email follow up reminders, and tons of integrations with third-party apps (Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, etc.). You can also the app to your heart’s content. Do you want a right swipe to delete and a left swipe to be pin? You can do that.
Do you want a calendar button at the bottom? You can add that. When Spark was initially released, I worried about the longevity of it due to the fact is was free. Over the years, we’ve seen many email apps released and be discontinued later, so I am always curious about the business model of the various apps.
Spark now has a plan that answers that question for me. By signing your organization up, you can collaborate on emails together, talk about replies privately (without having to forward things back and forth), and create permanent links to email messages (helpful for linking to a CRM, etc.). A basic version of Spark for Teams is free, but they have (monthly per-user fee) with extra file storage, enhanced link sharing, and team roles and control.
Dispatch – Dispatch has been around for many years. Its primary goal is to help you process your email quickly by deciding to delete, defer, delegate, generate actions, or reply with ease. It supports a of third-party integration, and it has a beautiful design overall. Its major problems is that it lacks Exchange support or true push notifications.
Edison Mail – Edison Mail is a great email app for the iPhone. One of the features I’ll praise is how fast it is. It includes an Assistant feature to help you organize your mail automatically. Get organized with categories.
The app’s assistant will automatically categorize messages for you to make them easier to find. Like peanut butter and jelly, some things go together. Overall, it’s a fine app, but it doesn’t do anything to stand out among some of the other apps. It has your basic power user features like snoozing and customizable swipe options. It does include the ability to set an Undo Time Window (3–15 seconds), so you can quickly get your emails back if you regret them.
It supports all the usual accounts like iCloud, Google, Yahoo, Exchange, Outlook, and IMAP. One reason I am hesitant to use Edison Mail is that it’s free. I’d love to know more about their long term business plans. Astro – Astro is an enjoyable app to use, as it includes an AI assistant to help you handle your email faster. It includes a send later feature, reply tracking, open tracking, undo send, and important email reminders. Some of its unique features are how it helps you stay on track of your email.
It can identify time-sensitive requests or due dates and help you follow up. It can also remind of you questions that are in your email. You can also integrate Astro in with. One of the significant downsides is that it only supports Google and Office 365 accounts at the moment. If you use those services, I would recommend you check it out. Wrap Up I’ve spent time with almost every email app I could find.
Email is highly personal, and my preferences won’t match yours. I also haven’t considered various security protocols like PGP integration. At the end of all my trials, I’ve come up with these recommendations: If you like the experience of Apple Mail, but want some additional features, Check out. If you want a rethinking of the email experience, check out. Spark’s team features are great for people with corporate accounts, and it’s great to see innovation still happening in email.
What do you think? Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments.