Microsoft 365 - Outlook (How To) Perform a Mail Merge in Microsoft Word from a Shared Mailbox

Microsoft Word's mail merge feature only sends emails from Outlook's default email. This article instructs how to add a shared mailbox to Outlook and set it as the default email so the mail merge will send emails from the shared mailbox instead.



Add the Shared Mailbox to Outlook via Add Account:

  1. Open Control Panel. You can do this by pressing the Windows button and typing "Control Panel" in the search bar.
  2. Click Mail (Microsoft Outlook) (32-bit).
  3. Click Email Accounts...
  4. Click New... to add the Shared Mailbox email address.
     
  5. In the Your Name textbox, enter a name to represent the shared mailbox. In the Email Address textbox, enter the email address associated with the shared mailbox. Leave the Password and Retype Password text boxes blank. Click Next >.
  6. Outlook will begin adding the shared mailbox. You should see a window that looks like this:
  7. You will be prompted to sign in with an email. Enter YOUR UWM email address (not the shared mailbox email address) and password (if prompted). Click Next.
  8. Click Finish.
  9. You must restart Outlook for these changes to take effect. Click OK.
  10. Click Close twice. Then close Outlook and re-open it. 
  11. When you open Outlook, you should see the Shared Mailbox email address in the left-side column. It may take some time for Outlook to load all of the emails in the shared mailbox.
     

    Set the Shared Mailbox to be the Default Email

    1. Open Outlook.
    2. Click File.
    3. Click Options.
    4. Click on the Mail tab. Scroll down to the Send messages section and check the box next to "Always use the default account when composing new messages".
    5. Click OK.
    6. Click File.
    7. Click the Account Settings button.
    8. Click Account Settings...
    9. Select the email associated with the shared mailbox you just added. Click the Set as Default button. Click Close.
     
    You have successfully set up the shared mailbox to be your default email address. Now, if you open Microsoft Word and perform a mail merge, the emails will be sent from the shared mailbox email address.
     
    NOTE: Outlook will always send emails from the shared mailbox by default now. If you wish to send an email from your email address instead of the shared mailbox, you will have to change the email in the From field when composing a new email message or go into Account Settings > Account Settings and set the default email back to your email address.
     
     


Keywords:
Office, 365, Outlook, 2016, how, to, perform, mail, merge, microsoft, word, shared, mailbox, send, email, e-mail, from, different, address, O365, M365 
Doc ID:
82893
Owned by:
Help Desk K. in UW-Milwaukee Help Desk
Created:
2018-06-13
Updated:
2024-01-22
Sites:
UW-Milwaukee Help Desk