The Conversation History Folder may contain older messages (IMs). If you are giving delegate permissions, you should check this folder to ensure that you are not sharing sensitive or unwanted information via the delegation permissions. If you do not wish colleagues to see this content, you should carry out one of the following options:
- Manually delete the messages from your Conversation History folder and your Deleted Items folder. The messages will still be retrievable as part of a Forensic Investigation as per the Data Retention and Information Management Policy.
- Right click the Conversation History folder and change the permissions for who has access to the folder.
- Create a rule (section called Inbox Rules to manage email) to automatically delete all email going into your Conversation History folder. You will also need a rule to delete the messages from your Deleted Items folder.
- Remove delegated access (Removing permissions to your mailbox).
You can give delegate access to your mailbox to one or more people so they can read emails in your inbox and send emails on your behalf
You may want to give someone access to your mailbox if you are on leave and want someone to manage your mailbox or if you have an assistant
Please note that an email notification will be sent out to the owner of the mailbox, the member(s) whose Delegate permission have been granted or removed and the relevant Local Administrator.
You can choose to share your entire mailbox with someone, or just specific parts of it and it will be displayed in the delegate’s Mail page below the list of their folders
- a) Outlook Desktop Client
i) Right click on your email address (the root folder of the Exchange mailbox) on the left side of the screen and select Folder Permissions.
ii) Click Add
iii) Select the name you want to designate as your delegate, or search for and then click the name in the search results list.
iv) Click Add, and then click OK
b) Outlook Web Access (OWA)
i) Right click the folder you want to delegate on the left side of the screen and select Permissions.
ii) Click the plus icon at the top left of the window and enter a name in the search field
You may need to search the Directory if the person’s details do not automatically appear in the search window
iii) Click add to give this person delegate access to your mailbox
2. Select or deselect options to choose the level of access or permissions to be given or choose from a set of predefined permissions in the drop down list
To allow delegate access you should select Owner from the drop down list
When you select Owner, a predefined option of all of the boxes will be selected, however, you can still choose to deselect some of the boxes
Select Owner if you want someone to have full access to your mailbox, including the ability to read, delete and write emails and create subfolders
Select Publishing Editor if you want someone to have the same level of access as with Owner, but without being a folder owner
Select Editor if you would like the person to be able to read, write and delete emails, but if you would like them to be unable to create subfolders within your mailbox
- Select Publishing Author if you would like them to be able to read and write emails, but only delete those emails that they own. In this instance, the person will be able to create subfolders but will not be a folder owner and the folders will just be visible
- Select Author if you would like the person to have the same access level as a Publishing Author, but without the ability to create subfolders
- Select Nonediting Author, if you would like to like the person to have the same level of access as with Author, but they will not be able to edit items in the mailbox, they can only create new emails
- Select Reviewer if you would like to allow the person to only read emails in your mailbox, without the ability to edit anything
- Select Contributor if you would like someone to be able to write emails from your mailbox, but without being able to view any items in the mailbox
- Selecting None will not allow the person to view or change any information in your mailbox
3. When you have finished setting permissions, click OK at the bottom of the window
If you would like to give delegate access to specific folders in your mailbox using the Outlook client, right click the folder, click Properties and then change the options on the Permissions tab
Best Practices
- To ensure that Delegation is correctly enabled always ensure this is performed via Outlook or Outlook on the web.
For Outlook:
1. Click on the Inbox of the account to Delegate
2. Go to File > Account Settings > Delegate Access:
3. Click Add
4. Choose the require user
5. Choose the required options:
i. Calendar – Editor is normally the most appropriate permission
ii. Tasks – If appropriate Editor is also the most appropriate however if the delegate does not need to view Tasks switch this to None
iii. Inbox – Choose Reviewer if the delegate is to manage your mailbox. If they manage your Calendar only change this to None
iv. Contacts and Notes – unless required leave these at None
v. We would generally recommend enabling the “Delegate can see my private items” option to ensure they can always view all items in your Calendar as this can cause confusion when not enabled
For Outlook on the web:
This has less options that for Outlook and we recommend using the desktop Outlook client in preference is possible.
1. Go to: https://outlook.office.com/calendar/view/week
2. Click Calendar > “…” > Sharing and Permissions
3. Add an email address of the person to share to
4. Click the down arrow and choose “Delegate”
5. The only available option is to choose “Let Delegate view private events” if required.
As a best practice do not configure delegation above and then enable Full Access in the Portal for a mailbox for the same user. Delegation and Full Access permissions are mutually exclusive and will cause unpredictable behaviour if combined as delegation provides restricted permissions and Full Access is the equivalent of a mailbox owner. This configuration is not supported by Microsoft.
| Last Reviewed Date | 27/10/2023 |
