Forum Discussion
Solved
Show as conversation in shared mailbox
Hi, In Outlook online (O365) it is possible to open a shared mailbox and see the sent messages grouped together with the incoming messages in conversations. The same functionality is not availabl...
ParLinderoth You didnt miss a setting - it's not possible in Outlook desktop because of the way search works in shared mailboxes. Instant search is limited to one folder at a time.
I could have sworn that I have seen conversation working in this way in an additional mailbox before. Could it be the nature of the additional mailbox and how it is shared?
If the mailbox is added as an account, it supports the full conversation view. If it's added as a shared mailbox, it does not - conversation view is available but only shows conversations for messages in the folder, not from other folders. This is because search is per folder in shared mailboxes, and the full conversation view uses search to find the messages that belong together.
- Thank you Diane. This is exactly the confirmation I have been needing. I've been wrestling with this dilemma with my clients a lot lately. Maybe because of O365, these mailboxes are more commonly set up as shared these days, whereas in the past we may have come across more mailboxes set up with an account. Is there an easy way for me to spot the difference?
Conversation view is such a bonus when there are several people tending to a shared mailbox as it can show everyone what has transpired on each email.
I think the workaround that I will suggest is to create a rule; when I send an email from the shared mailbox, a copy is sent to the shared inbox. That way they will get, almost, the equivalent of conversation view in a proper mailbox. Do you think that will work?- >> Is there an easy way for me to spot the difference?
Shared mailboxes are in the folder list using their display name, not their email address.
The rule won't work - you can only use server-side rules and need to set them up in Outlook on the web or creating a profile for the shared mailbox and creating server-side rules (which is any rule that does not say "(client only)".
While you could add the shared box to your profile, if the mailbox shows up automatically when you add your account to a profile, the mailbox is auto mapped - when its auto mapped and added as an account, it is buggy.
To add the mailbox as an account, you need to sign into it using your user/password.
Instructions: https://www.slipstick.com/exchange/create-rules-and-oof-shared-mailbox/
Your other option is using a macro to copy the sent messages, if work allows it. (I have a macro that does this.)Diane_Poremsky_MVPCan you share this macro with me - thank you.
... we have the same problem or challenge that the conversation view no longer works in shared mailboxes.
Are there any workarounds available or ideas?
As a work around, I have found that if you always hit "reply all" to emails in a shared email account, the reply will show up in conversation view. If you only hit "reply", it will not.
