Manage permissions for recipients in Exchange Online
In Exchange Online, you can use the Exchange admin center (EAC) or Exchange Online PowerShell to assign permissions to a mailbox or group so that other users can access the mailbox (the Full Access permission), or send email messages that appear to come from the mailbox or group (the Send as or Send on behalf permissions). The users that are assigned these permissions on other mailboxes or groups are called delegates.
The permissions that you can assign to delegates for mailboxes and groups in Exchange Online are described in the following table:
| Permission | Description | Recipient types in the EAC | Additional recipient types in PowerShell | **Available delegate types |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Access | Allows the delegate to open the mailbox, and view, add and remove the contents of the mailbox. Doesn't allow the delegate to send messages from the mailbox. If you assign the Full Access permission to a mailbox that is hidden from address lists, the delegate won't be able to open the mailbox. By default, discovery mailboxes are hidden from address lists. By default, the mailbox auto-mapping feature uses Autodiscover to automatically open the mailbox in the delegate's Outlook profile (in addition to their own mailbox). Auto-mapping will only work for individual users granted the proper permissions and will not work for any kind of group. If you don't want mailboxes to be auto-mapped, you need to take one of the following actions:
|
User mailboxes Resource mailboxes Shared mailboxes |
Discovery mailboxes | Mailboxes with user accounts Mail users with accounts Mail-enabled security groups |
| Send as | Allows the delegate to send messages as if they came directly from the mailbox or group. There's no indication that the message was sent by the delegate. Doesn't allow the delegate to read the contents of the mailbox. If you assign the Send As permission to a mailbox that is hidden from address lists, the delegate won't be able to send messages from the mailbox. |
User mailboxes Resource mailboxes Shared mailboxes Distribution groups Dynamic distribution groups Mail-enabled security groups Microsoft 365 groups |
n/a | Mailboxes with user accounts Mail users with accounts Mail-enabled security groups |
| Send on behalf | Allows the delegate to send messages from the mailbox or group. The From address of these messages clearly shows that the message was sent by the delegate (" <Delegate> on behalf of <MailboxOrGroup>"). However, replies to these messages are sent to the mailbox or group, not to the delegate. Doesn't allow the delegate to read the contents of the mailbox. If you assign the Send on Behalf permission to a mailbox that is hidden from address lists, the delegate won't be able to send messages from the mailbox. |
User mailboxes Resource mailboxes Distribution groups Dynamic distribution groups Mail-enabled security groups Microsoft 365 groups |
Shared mailboxes | Mailboxes with user accounts Mail users with accounts Mail-enabled security groups Distribution groups |
Note
If a user has both Send as and Send on behalf permissions to a mailbox or group, the Send as permission is always used.
What do you need to know before you begin?
Estimated time to complete each procedure: 2 minutes.
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox settings" entry in the Feature permissions in Exchange Online article.
To open and use the EAC, see Exchange admin center in Exchange Online. To connect to Exchange Online PowerShell, see Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.
When a mailbox is added to Outlook using Advanced Settings, only the primary mailbox will be added; the archive mailbox won't be added. If a user needs to also access the archive mailbox, the mailbox should be added to Outlook as a second account in the same Outlook profile.
For information about keyboard shortcuts that may apply to the procedures in this article, see Keyboard shortcuts for the Exchange admin center.
Use the EAC to assign permissions to individual mailboxes
In the EAC, click Recipients in the feature pane. Depending on the type of mailbox that you want to assign permissions for, click on one of the following:
- Mailboxes: User or linked mailboxes.
- Resources: Room or equipment mailboxes.
In the list of mailboxes, select the mailbox that you want to assign permissions for.
Click Mailbox Delegation and configure one or more of the following permissions:
- Send as: Messages sent by a delegate appear to come from the mailbox.
- Send on behalf: Messages sent by a delegate have " <Delegate> on behalf of <Mailbox>" in the From address. Note that this permission isn't available in the EAC for shared mailboxes.
- Read and manage (Full Access): The delegate can open the mailbox and do anything except send messages.
To assign permissions to delegates, click Edit under the appropriate permission, and then click
Add members.- Select the user or group from the list. Repeat this process as many times as necessary.
- You can also search for users or groups in the search box by typing all or part of the name, and then clicking
Search.
When you're finished selecting delegates, click Save > Confirm.
To remove a permission from a delegate, select the delegate in the list under the appropriate permission, and then click Delete > Confirm.
Use the EAC to assign permissions to multiple mailboxes at the same time
In the EAC, click Recipients > Mailboxes.
Select the mailboxes that you want to assign permissions for.
Click Mailbox delegation, under Add a delegate textbox, type the Name or email address and then select it from the results.
In the Select permission types dropdown, select the appropriate types (Full access, Send as or Send on behalf).
When you're finished selecting users or groups to add as delegates, click Save or click Close X to remove.
Use the EAC to assign permissions to groups
In the EAC, click Recipients > Groups.
Select the group by clicking anywhere in the row other than the button option that appears in the blank area next to the Group name column. and then click Settings.
Under Manage delegates, click Edit manage delegates and configure one of the following permissions:
- Send as: Messages sent by a delegate appear to come from the group.
- Send on behalf: Messages sent by a delegate have " <Delegate> on behalf of <Group>" in the From address.
To assign permissions to delegates, under Add a delegate textbox, type the Name or email address and then select it from the results. Repeat this process as many times as necessary.
To remove permission from a delegate, click Close X.
When you're finished, click Save.
Use Exchange Online PowerShell to assign the Full Access permission to mailboxes
You use the Add-MailboxPermission and Remove-MailboxPermission cmdlets to manage the Full Access permission for mailboxes. These cmdlets use the same basic syntax:
Add-MailboxPermission -Identity <MailboxIdentity> -User <DelegateIdentity> -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All [-AutoMapping $false]
Remove-MailboxPermission -Identity <MailboxIdentity> -User <DelegateIdentity> -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All
This example assigns the delegate Raymond Sam the Full Access permission to the mailbox of Terry Adams.
Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "Terry Adams" -User raymonds -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All
This example assigns Esther Valle the Full Access permission to the organization's default discovery search mailbox, and prevents the mailbox from automatically opening in Esther Valle's Outlook.
Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "DiscoverySearchMailbox{D919BA05-46A6-415f-80AD-7E09334BB852}" -User estherv -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All -AutoMapping $false
This example assigns members of the Helpdesk mail-enabled security group the Full Access permission to the shared mailbox named Helpdesk Tickets.
Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "Helpdesk Tickets" -User Helpdesk -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All
This example removes Full Access permission for Jim Hance from Ayla Kol's mailbox.
Remove-MailboxPermission -Identity ayla -User "Jim Hance" -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All
For detailed syntax and parameter information, see:
How do you know this worked?
To verify that you've successfully assigned or removed the Full Access permission for a delegate on a mailbox, use either of the following procedures:
In the properties of the mailbox in the EAC, verify the delegate is or isn't listed in Mailbox delegation > Full Access.
Replace <MailboxIdentity> with the identity of the mailbox and run the following command in Exchange Online PowerShell to verify that the delegate is or isn't listed..
Get-MailboxPermission <MailboxIdentity> | where {$_.AccessRights -like 'Full*'} | Format-Table User,Deny,IsInherited,AccessRights -AutoFor more information, see Get-MailboxPermission.
Use Exchange Online PowerShell to assign the Send As permission to mailboxes and groups
You use the Add-RecipientPermission and Remove-RecipientPermission cmdlets to manage the Send As permission for mailboxes and groups. These cmdlets use the same basic syntax:
<Add-RecipientPermission | Remove-RecipientPermission> -Identity <MailboxOrGroupIdentity> -Trustee <DelegateIdentity> -AccessRights SendAs
This example assigns the Send As permission to the Printer Support group on the shared mailbox named Contoso Printer Support.
Add-RecipientPermission -Identity "Contoso Printer Support" -Trustee "Printer Support" -AccessRights SendAs
This example removes the Send As permission for the user Karen Toh on the mailbox for Yan Li.
Remove-RecipientPermission -Identity "Yan Li" -Trustee "Karen Toh" -AccessRights SendAs
For detailed syntax and parameter information, see:
How do you know this worked?
To verify that you've successfully assigned or removed the Send As permission for a delegate on a mailbox or group, use either of the following procedures:
In the properties of the mailbox or group in the EAC, verify the delegate is or isn't listed in Mailbox delegation > Send As or Group delegation > Send As.
Replace <MailboxIdentity> and <DelegateIdentity> with the name, alias, or email address of the mailbox or group and run the following command in Exchange Online PowerShell to verify that the delegate is or isn't listed.
Get-RecipientPermission -Identity <MailboxIdentity> -Trustee <DelegateIdentity>
Use Exchange Online PowerShell to assign the Send on Behalf permission to mailboxes and groups
You use the GrantSendOnBehalfTo parameter on the various mailbox and group Set- cmdlets to manage the Send on Behalf permission for mailboxes and groups:
- Set-Mailbox
- Set-DistributionGroup: Distribution groups and mail-enabled security groups.
- Set-DynamicDistributionGroup
- Set-UnifiedGroup: Microsoft 365 groups.
The basic syntax for these cmdlets is:
<Cmdlet> -Identity <MailboxOrGroupIdentity> -GrantSendOnBehalfTo <Delegates>
The GrantSendOnBehalfTo parameter has the following options for delegate values:
- Replace existing delegates:
<DelegateIdentity>or"<DelegateIdentity1>","<DelegateIdentity2>",... - Add or remove delegates without affecting other delegates:
@{Add="\<value1\>","\<value2\>"...; Remove="\<value1\>","\<value2\>"...} - Remove all delegates: Use the value
$null.
This example assigns the delegate Holly Holt the Send on Behalf permission to the mailbox of Sean Chai.
Set-Mailbox -Identity [email protected] -GrantSendOnBehalfTo hollyh
This example adds the group [email protected] to the list of delegates that have Send on Behalf permission to the Contoso Executives shared mailbox.
Set-Mailbox "Contoso Executives" -GrantSendOnBehalfTo @{Add="[email protected]"}
This example assigns the delegate Sara Davis the Send on Behalf permission to the Printer Support distribution group.
Set-DistributionGroup -Identity [email protected] -GrantSendOnBehalfTo sarad
This example removes the Send on Behalf permission that was assigned to the administrator on the All Employees dynamic distribution group.
Set-DynamicDistributionGroup "All Employees" -GrantSendOnBehalfTo @{Remove="Administrator"}
How do you know this worked?
To verify that you've successfully assigned or removed the Send on Behalf permission for a delegate on a mailbox or group, use either of the following procedures:
In the properties of the mailbox or group in the EAC, verify the delegate is or isn't listed in Mailbox delegation > Send As or Group delegation > Send As.
Replace <MailboxIdentity> or <GroupIdentity> with the identity of the mailbox or group and run the one of the following commands in Exchange Online PowerShell to verify that the delegate is or isn't listed.
Mailbox:
Get-Mailbox -Identity <MailboxIdentity> | Format-List GrantSendOnBehalfToDistribution group or mail-enabled security group:
Get-DistributionGroup -Identity <GroupIdentity> | Format-List GrantSendOnBehalfToDynamic distribution group:
Get-DynamicDistributionGroup -Identity <GroupIdentity> | Format-List GrantSendOnBehalfToMicrosoft 365 group:
Get-UnifiedGroup -Identity <GroupIdentity> | Format-List GrantSendOnBehalfTo
Next steps
For more information about how delegates can use the permissions that are assigned to them on mailboxes and groups, see the following articles: