Use Office365 Shared mailbox on any mailclient without OWA

Opposed to many articles on this topic, IT IS possible to create and use a shared mailbox in your normal mail client.
Just like you would your office365 account.

Yes, you can use Outlook, the OWA app or OWA in the browser, but like myself I rather have it like a normal mailbox in Outlook 2013 / Windows Mail / Windows Phone 8 / Mac Apple mail / iPhone / iPad or even Android.
To get this working, here's a brief summary:

  • Create an Office365 shared mailbox
  • Reset the password
  • Update the password in Outlook Web Access
  • Setup the shared mail account in your favorite mail client

Previously this method wasn't possible, but due to some changes, I believe related to the implementation of Azure AD into Office365, we have this solution available.

Create an Office365 shared mailbox

  1.  Sign in to Office 365 with your account (this account must have Admin-rights)
  2. In Office 365, select Admin (beheerder), or select the app launcher Office 365 app launcher icon, and select Admin (beheerder)
  3. Go to Shared mailboxes (Gedeelde postvakken)
  4. On the Shared mailboxes page, select Add to add a new account
  5. On the Add a shared mailbox page, enter the following information.
    In this example will create an info@ shared mailbox for my company called Mijnpost
    1. Name: Mijnpost ICT Management
    2. Email: info [ and select you domain ]
    3. Add members: type in your name or email address in the search box.
    4. Your account will appear and select it. Add other accounts if you like.
    5. Select button "Create" (Maken)
    6. Wait until the mailbox is provisioned.

You'll return automatically to the Shared Mailbox menu. Sometimes this will take some time, because Microsoft is busy.

Warning
The proxy address "smtp:Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken." is already being used by the proxy address or LegacyExchangeDN of "{GUID-GUID-GUID-GUID}". Please choose another proxy address.
The proxy address "SMTP:Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken." is already being used by the proxy addresses or LegacyExchangeDN of "admin". Please choose another proxy address.

It is caused by a duplicate account, the mail address info@ is already created as a user, shared mailbox or alias. Find it, delete it or continue with the following.

To overcome this error change the Email in above procedure into something unique, like InfoMijnpost, and retry. Later you can change the mail address, into info@, but we need to create an account first, which has to be unique.

Reset password Shared mailbox account

  1. In the Admin portal
  2. Go to Users (Gebruikers) open Active Users (Actieve gebruikers)
  3. Here you see your newly created shared mail account
    (this isn't a regular account, it's a free office365 account without features)
  4. Remember the full username in column "User name"
  5. This would be; or Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
  6. Select the account and select "Reset Password" on the right panel.
  7. Fill-in your email address, select "Make this user change their password with Outlook Web App on next login." and confirm with "Reset password"
  8. Remember the temporary password, shown in the results and click on Finish

Login Outlook Web Access

  1. Make sure you sign out for the Admin portal
  2. Sign in to https://outlook.office365.com
  3. Using the shared mailbox credentials (full mail address and temporary password)
    If you don't see a login, and OWA is opened automatically, sign out OWA and retry
  4. When you managed to sign in, you get to change the password.
    If you don't, go to Password in the left panel.
  5. First fill-in your temporary password, followed by 2 times your new password.

Setup the shared mail account in your favorite mail client

Now you have all the details for your shared mailbox. In general:

Create an email account with:

  • Email address: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
  • Password: -your new password-
  • User name: Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken. OR Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.
  • Server: outlook.office365.com
  • SSL: active
  • Domain: -leave this empty-

In this example the email address and user name are equal, but they don't have to be.

For this example I worked with Office 365 Business Essentials or Premium subscriptions.
I've tested this on several accounts and on lots of devices, but I can't guarantee it will work on everything.