Overview
Requesting access to a shared org account
Adding the account in Outlook for Windows
Adding the account in Outlook for Mac
Adding the account in Outlook 365 (online)
Sending emails "as" a shared org account
Setting up autoreply for a shared org account
Student workers and shared org accounts
Removing delegate access to a shared org account

Overview

Departments and teams can use shared org accounts to manage Outlook mailboxes and calendars. For example, your department may need a way to manage general inquiries or calendar events, or your research team may need an email address or calendar to conduct a specific project or study.

Once a shared org account is created, authorized staff members can use delegate access to view and access the shared org account's mailboxes and calendars. What does delegate access mean? If you are granted access to a shared org account, you will use your own USC NetID and passphrase to log in, rather than using a separate USC NetID and passphrase for the org account itself.

Requesting access to a shared org account

To request access to an existing shared org account for yourself or for others:

To request the creation of a new shared org account:

Once you place a request, DTS coordinates with ITS to update or create the shared org account, and confirms once you have been granted access.

Adding the account in Outlook for Windows

New vs Classic Outlook for Windows

Once DTS confirms your access, you can add the account in Outlook:

Outlook inbox

New Outlook for Windows
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Quit and reopen Outlook for Windows.
  2. Expand the Shared with me folder in your account mailbox. The shared org account will appear here. If it does, you are all set and do not need to continue to the steps below.
  3. If the shared org account does not appear, you must add it manually:
    1. Hover over your account name and click the … icon.
    2. Select Add shared folder or mailbox.
    3. Type the org account name in the search bar. Select the account, and click Add.
    4. The org account mailbox now appears under the Shared with me folder within your account.
Classic Outlook for Windows
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Quit and reopen Outlook for Windows.
  2. The shared org account should appear below your own folders. If it does, you are all set and do not need to continue to the steps below.
  3. If the shared org account does not appear, you must add it manually:
    1. Click the File tab.
    2. Click Account Settings and select Account Settings.
    3. Select your account and click Change.
    4. Click More Settings.
    5. Click the Advanced tab.
    6. Click Add. 
    7. Type the exact email address of the org account, and click OK.
    8. Click OK.
    9. Close the windows and return to Outlook. The org account now appears below your own folders (may take a moment to update).

Outlook calendar

Once you add the shared org account to Outlook inbox, it automatically appears in Outlook calendar below your own account. If the shared org account does not appear, you can manually add it:

New Outlook for Windows
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Open Outlook calendar.
  2. Click Add calendar.
  3. Click Add from directory.
  4. Select your account.
  5. Type the org account name in the search bar and select it. 
  6. Select a category and click Add.
  7. Close the window. The org account now appears below your own account. If you do not see it, click the category you selected in step 5.
Classic Outlook for Windows
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Open Outlook calendar.
  2. Click Open Calendar and select Open Shared Calendar.
  3. Click Name.
  4. Type the org account name in the search bar. Select it, and click OK.
  5. Click OK.
  6. The org calendar now appears under Shared Calendars.

Adding the account in Outlook for Mac

New Outlook vs Legacy Outlook for Mac

Once DTS confirms your access, you can add the account in Outlook:

Outlook inbox

New Outlook for Mac
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Quit and reopen Outlook for Mac.
  2. In the menu bar, click Microsoft Outlook and select Settings.
  3. Click Accounts.
  4. Click Delegation and Sharing.
  5. Click the Shared With Me tab.
  6. Click the + icon.
  7. Type the org account name in the search bar. Select it, and click Add. After a few seconds, the org account is added.
  8. Click Done and close the Accounts window.
  9. The org account mailbox now appears below your own folders.
Legacy Outlook for Mac
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Quit and reopen Outlook for Mac.
  2. In the menu bar, click Microsoft Outlook and select Settings.
  3. Click Accounts.
  4. Click Advanced.
  5. Click the Delegates tab.
  6. Under "Open these additional mailboxes," click the + icon.
  7. Type the org account name in the search bar. Select it, and click Add. After a few seconds, the org account is added.
  8. Click OK and close the Accounts window.
  9. The org account now appears below your own folders (may take a moment to update).

Outlook calendar

Once you add the shared org account to Outlook inbox, it automatically appears in Outlook calendar below your own account. If the shared org account does not appear, you can manually add it:

New Outlook for Mac
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Open Outlook calendar.
  2. Click + Add Calendar and select Add Shared Calendar.
  3. Type the org account name in the search bar. Select it, and click Open.
  4. The org account now appears below your own account. If you do not see it, click Other Calendars.
Legacy Outlook for Mac
Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Open Outlook calendar.
  2. Click Open Shared Calendar.
  3. Type the org account name in the search bar. Select it, and click Open.
  4. The org account now appears below your own account or as a calendar within your account.

Adding the account in Outlook 365 (online)

Once DTS confirms your access, you can add the account to Outlook:

Outlook inbox

Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Go to https://usc.edu/office365.
  2. Hover over Folders and click the … icon. Select Add shared folder or mailbox.
  3. Type the org account name in the search bar. Select the account, and click Add.
  4. The org account now appears below your own folders.

Outlook calendar

Quick guide Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Quick guide

  1. Go to https://usc.edu/office365 and select the Calendar tab.
  2. Click Add calendar.
  3. Click Add from directory.
  4. Select your account.
  5. Type the org account name in the search bar and select it. 
  6. Select a category and click Add.
  7. Close the window. The org account now appears below your own account. If you do not see it, click the category you selected in step 6.

Sending emails "as" a shared org account

If you requested and were granted the ability to send emails from the shared org account, you should still log into your own Outlook account, and from there you can update the From address on new emails you send.

Change the sender in New Outlook for Windows

Click the From field and select the shared org account. If the account does not appear in the list, click Other email address and search for the account.

Select From field

If you do not see the From field, click the Options tab and select the checkbox Show From.

Options > Show From

Change the sender in Classic Outlook for Windows

Click the From field and select the shared org account. If the account does not appear in the list, click Other E-mail Address and search for the account.

Select From

If you do not see the From field, click the Options tab and select From. 

Options > From

Change the sender in New Outlook for Mac

Click your name in the From field and select the shared org account. If the account does not appear in the list, click Other email address and search for the account.

Select From

Change the sender in Legacy Outlook for Mac

Click your name in the From field and select the shared org account.

Select From

Change the sender in Outlook 365 (online)

Click the From field and select the shared org account. If the account does not appear in the list, click Other email address and search for the account.

Select From

If you do not see the From field, click the Options tab and select the checkbox Show From.

Options > Show From

Sending mail merges "as" the shared org account

If you are setting up a mail merge through Microsoft Word, Word will use your default Outlook account as the sender, rather than letting you select the shared org account. To ensure that your mail merge shows the shared org account as the sender, follow our guide:

Setting up autoreply for a shared org account

You can optionally add an autoreply for a shared org account:

Student workers and shared org accounts

Students have Gmail rather than Outlook accounts, so they cannot be granted delegate access to a shared org account in Outlook. If you need to grant student access to a shared org account, you will need to perform a few steps:

Once a student worker leaves your department, you will need to change the org account passphrase and remove the student worker's Duo verification from the org account.

Students and Outlook login

Students must access Outlook through their browser, not through the Outlook application installed on Dornsife-managed computers. Instruct them to:

  1. Open an incognito or private browser tab.
  2. Go to https://usc.edu/office365.
  3. Type the org account email address.
  4. Type the org account's USC NetID and passphrase, and complete Duo authentication.

If the student receives an error message from Microsoft, they should make sure that they are using an incognito or private browser tab: when a student is signed into their own USC NetID, Microsoft will detect that sign-in rather than the org account sign-in.

Removing delegate access to a shared org account

If you are in charge of administering a shared org account, we recommend that you periodically confirm that the list of staff who have been granted access to the account is up to date, and remove access for departed employees or anyone who should no longer have access.

You can request the removal of staff members by submitting a modification request or by emailing [email protected].

Contributors: Chris Huntley, Albert Rodriguez.