Topics in this Article:

Overview

Benefits of Using a Shared Mailbox

How to Access Your Gmail Shared Mailbox

Membership Management Instructions for Mailbox Managers

How to Search for Specific Members

How to Add New Members

How to Download a List of Group Mailbox Members

How to Change Member Roles

Overview

Gmail Shared Mailboxes are a collaborative feature within the Gmail email service. These shared mailboxes are designed to help you communicate and collaborate among groups of users within Rice University.

Benefits of Using a Shared Mailbox

Here are a few ways you can use your Gmail Shared mailbox:

Collaborative Email Management

Gmail Shared Mailboxes enable multiple Rice users to access, manage, and respond to emails sent to a specific email address or mailbox. This shared mailbox can be used for various purposes, such as committee collaboration, managing a departmental email account, or collaborating on a project.

Shared Access

Rice University users with access to a shared mailbox can view, send, receive, and organize emails just like they would with their personal Gmail accounts. This feature allows teams to work together without the need to forward emails or share login credentials.

Consolidated Inbox

Each member of a shared mailbox can see emails from the shared mailbox alongside your own personal emails in the Gmail interface. This consolidated view makes it easy to manage both personal and shared correspondence efficiently.

Email Organization

Members of a shared mailbox can apply labels and filters to categorize and organize emails within the shared mailbox, making it easier to sort, search, and prioritize messages. This feature helps streamline workflow and ensures that important emails are addressed promptly.

How to Access Your Gmail Shared Mailbox

Step 1: Open a web browser and navigate to https://mail.google.com and sign in with your own NetID@rice.edu email address (you will be redirected to Rice NetID login if you aren't already authenticated).

Step 2: Select your profile picture in the upper right corner. Click to select the mailbox that you would like to access from the options in the drop-down menu.

Selecting a mailbox will open a new browser tab, showing the selected shared mailbox. Once logged in, you may manage, write, and send emails on behalf of the shared mailbox. The key icon in the account chooser in the upper right corner of the browser window indicates that you are accessing a delegated mailbox.

Please note that there is no "From:" field in emails that are sent from a shared mailbox because the email is being sent on behalf of the delegated mailbox or as the delegated mailbox.

Membership Management Instructions for Shared Mailbox Managers

Use the steps below to manage access to your shared mailbox through a Google group:

Step 1: Open a web browser and navigate to https://groups.google.com. Sign in with your NetID, if prompted.

Step 2: Select the group of your shared mailbox for which you would like to update permissions. You can search for the group email address in the format of emailaddress-group@rice.edu if you don't know the group name. In the example below, the group email address is ExampleOrgAccount-group@rice.edu.

Step 3: Select People > Members to view the list of group members. You can then search, add, and manage permissions.

How to Search for Specific Members

You can search for members by name, email, or role type on the dialog box shown below.

How to Add New Members

Complete each box to add a new member to the shared mailbox group.

How to Download a List of Group Mailbox Members

Select the area shown below to download a list of members. The downloaded list of members will appear in your Downloads folder or wherever your browser is set to save downloaded files.

How to Change Member Roles

You can set the permissions for any member by changing their assigned role.

 Owner Permissions

• Delete the group.
• Add additional owners, managers, and members.
• Change settings for another owner.
• Export group messages via Google Takeout.

 Manager Permissions

• Add additional members or make another member a manager.

 Member Permissions

• Access, respond to, and delegate email messages.

 To change member roles:

1. Select the triangle next to a member’s current role.
2. Choose one of the permissions described above.