Please Note: These instructions were written specifically for Microsoft Outlook 2010 on a Hosted Desktop UK, therefore screenshots and prompts may not be exactly representative if you are using a different version of Outlook with your own computer.
There are two quick parts to this process, but both of them need to be performed by all users in your Organisation before you can share each other’s Outlook Folder(s):
Part A - Setting Permissions For Users
In this example, we show how ‘Fred Bloggs’ is going to give ‘Steve Bloggs’ full access to his Inbox. (These same instructions apply to sharing any folder in Outlook, just select the required folder in step A.1)
A.1 - In Outlook, select the folder you wish to share, then click the ‘Folder’ tab.
A.2 - Click ‘Folder Permissions’.
A.3 - Click ‘Add…’
A.4 - For every person who you wish to share your folder with, select them from the address list and then click ‘Add ->’. That persons name will then appear underlined next to the ‘Add ->’ button. When you have added all of the people you wish to share with, click ‘Ok’.
A.5 - Set the level of access you wish each person to have to your folder. Select the persons name, and then set their ‘Permission Level’ from the drop-down list as shown below. In this example we have selected ‘Publishing Editor’ rights: this will give the user full access to your folder and will allow them to create, modify, view and delete items. If you wish to give ‘Read-Only’ access to a user, select ‘Reviewer’ from the drop-down list instead.
A.6 - When you are happy that the permissions for all people you wish to share with have been set as you require, click ‘Apply’ and then ‘Ok’.
A.7 - When everybody in your organisation who wishes to share their folder(s) has performed these steps, please proceed to Part B to add a temporary view of another users folder(s) to your Outlook.
Part B - Adding a Temporary View of Another Users Folder(s)
In this example, we show how ‘Steve Bloggs’ is going to temporarily add one of ‘Fred Bloggs’ folders to his Outlook view now that Fred has given him access to it.
B.1 - In Outlook, click the ‘File’ tab.
B.2 -Click on ‘Open’
B.3 - Click on ‘Other Users Folder’
B.4 - Click on ‘Name…’
B.5 - From the address list, select every person whose folder(s) you wish to view, and then click ‘Ok’.
B.6 -The person whose name you have just selected will now appear underlined next to ‘Name…’. Now click ‘Ok’.
B.7 - The folder for the person whom you have just selected will now appear in your Outlook view and you can browse through it.
Please Note: This addition of another users folder using this method is only temporary; when you navigate away from the folder within your Outlook view, it will disappear and you will have to repeat steps B.1 - B.6 if you wish to view it again.
If you wish to add another users folder(s) permenantly to your Outlook view, please see our ‘How To Share Your Outlook Mailbox With Others in Your Organisation’ article, which is availiable here.