Account delegation and shared mailboxes
Account delegation lets one user access and manage another user's mailbox — a powerful feature for assistants, teams, CRM systems or shared support inboxes. With Auth-Email, you can bridge delegated access to work with standard desktop email clients, or connect non-OAuth platforms with ease.
This guide explains how delegation works, how to configure it in your Auth-Email dashboard, and how to use it in your email client.
This feature requires a subscription to Auth-Email's Pro plan.
What is account delegation?
Delegation is when one user is granted access to read, send, and manage emails on behalf of another account — often used for:
- Shared mailboxes (e.g.,
support@,info@,billing@) - Executive assistants managing executive inboxes
- Team inboxes where multiple people respond to emails
- CRM systems that need to send emails on behalf of users
What is a shared mailbox?
A shared mailbox is an email address that multiple users can access without having separate login credentials. Each user uses their own credentials to access the shared mailbox, but they can read and send emails as if they were the shared address.
Key provider documentation:
How delegation works with Auth-Email
Auth-Email allows delegated access by connecting to the mailbox as the user who has been granted access, but specifying the shared mailbox you want to operate on.
Example:
- You want to access:
support@company.com- Your delegated access is via your own account:
jane.doe@company.comYou’ll log in as Jane Doe, but interact with
support@company.com.
Setting Up a Delegated Account in Auth-Email
Follow these steps to configure a shared or delegated mailbox using Auth-Email:
1. Add a new account
Start by adding a new account from your Auth-Email dashboard (click “Add account”). In the “Email address” field of the account creation form, enter the shared mailbox address you want to access.
2. Enable delegation
Next, still in the account creation form, find the “Account delegation” section and enable the toggle. If you don't see the toggle, make sure you have an active subscription to Auth-Email's Pro plan.
This reveals another field for the authorized user address – the email address of the user who has delegated access to the shared mailbox. Using the same example as above, you would enter:
- Shared mailbox:
support@company.com - Authorized user:
jane.doe@company.com
Click “Next →” on the form.
3. Authorize access
You will be led through authorizing the account via OAuth as usual. When you are asked to log in by your email service provider, make sure to log in as the authorized user (e.g., Jane Doe in our example)
Setting up in your email client
Once the delegated account is configured in Auth-Email, you can connect from any standard IMAP/POP/SMTP-compatible client. Connection server and port settings are the same as for a regular account, and are shown in your Auth-Email dashboard.
If needed, you can find the full set of server details on the server settings help page and our list of client setup guides for help finding and configuring the settings in your chosen client.
Authentication format
Authenticating a delegated account is slightly different to a regular account. For delegated accounts, your username format should be: authorized-user@domain.com\shared-mailbox@domain.com
For example:
jane.doe@company.com\support@company.com
The From address in your email client should be set to the shared mailbox (e.g., support@company.com) so that messages appear correctly to recipients.
Troubleshooting tips
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Login fails | Ensure delegation is properly configured with your email service provider |
| Mail sent from the wrong address | Make sure the “From” address is set to the shared mailbox rather than the authorized user |
Need help?
If you're not sure whether delegation is configured correctly in your email provider, or you can't get things working, reach out to us at support@auth-email.com – we're happy to help!