Common scenarios

Common account connection scenarios: personal vs shared, multiple domains, team routing.

Share all emails in an account

Your team needs access to all emails in an account like [e-mail].

1

Add the account

Go to Settings > Accounts and click Add account.

2

Choose shared account

Select Yes, share this account during setup.

3

Select delivery method

Choose Team Inbox (recommended) or Inbox.

See Sharing options for the differences.

With a shared account, you don't need shared addresses. Shared addresses are for sharing only specific aliases from an account, not the entire account.

Share only a specific alias

You have [e-mail] as a personal account but want to share only emails sent to [e-mail] (an alias).

1

Connect as personal account

Go to Settings > Accounts > Add account and connect [e-mail] as a personal account.

2

Add the shared address

Go to Settings > Accounts, click Add, then choose Shared address under the Email tab.

Enter [e-mail] and select the organization to share it in.

3

Select delivery method

Choose Team Inbox or Inbox and select who should receive these emails.

4

Verify

Click the link in the verification email sent to [e-mail].

This doesn't let teammates send from [e-mail] automatically. To enable that, share an alias from your account or have each teammate add it as an alias on their own account.

Collaborate on Google Group emails

[e-mail] is a Google Group that forwards to everyone on your team.

1

Connect personal accounts

Each team member connects their personal Gmail account (the one receiving Google Group forwards).

2

Add shared address

Go to Settings > Accounts, click Add, then choose Shared address under the Email tab.

Enter [e-mail] and select the organization to share it in.

3

Skip auto-sharing

Don't select anyone to auto-share with. Users already receive these emails in their personal accounts.

4

Verify

Each user clicks the link in the verification email.

5

Add alias for sending (optional)

If teammates need to send from [e-mail], each adds it as an alias on their personal account.

See Google Group address for detailed setup.

Ad-hoc collaboration with mentions

You don't want automatic sharing. You just want to collaborate on specific emails when needed.

1

Open the conversation

Find the email you want to share.

2

Mention teammates

Type @ in the comment composer and select the teammate you want to share with.

3

They get access

Your teammate can now see the conversation and collaborate with you.

You can remove access later if needed.

Auto-share emails from specific senders

Your account is personal, but you want to automatically share emails from certain senders (like a vendor).

1

Connect as personal account

Go to Settings > Accounts > Add account and connect your email as a personal account.

2

Create a rule

Go to Settings > Rules and create a new personal rule.

3

Add condition

Set the condition: From is [e-mail]

4

Add action

Choose an action:

• Move to team inbox to share with a team
• Assign user(s) to share with specific people

Temporarily share access during leave

A team member is going on leave and you need to monitor their inbox while they're away.

Option 1: Share as team inbox (appears separately in sidebar)

1

Share the account

The team member opens Settings > Accounts, selects their account, and clicks the Share this account button.

2

Select Team Inbox

Choose Team Inbox and select an existing team or create a new one.

This makes the inbox appear as a separate item in the sidebar, keeping emails separate from your personal inbox.

3

Make private again later

When the team member returns, they open Settings > Accounts, select the account, and click Edit sharing, then Make account private.

Option 2: Share as personal account with auto-archive

1

Share the account

The team member opens Settings > Accounts, selects their account, and clicks the Share this account button.

2

Select Inbox sharing

Choose Inbox as the delivery method.

3

Configure recipients

Select who needs access:

• Users in Inbox section will see new emails in their personal Inbox
• Users in Auto-archive section can access all emails via the All mailbox without notifications

Auto-archive is useful when you want access to search and review emails without being notified for every new message.

4

Make private again later

When the team member returns, they open Settings > Accounts, select the account, and click Edit sharing, then Make account private.

Auto-collaborate when both you and a teammate are recipients

You want to automatically share emails when both [e-mail] and [e-mail] are recipients.

1

Connect personal accounts

Each user connects their email as a personal account.

2

Add shared addresses

Go to Settings > Accounts, click Add, then choose Shared address under the Email tab.

Add a shared address for both [e-mail] and [e-mail].

3

Don't select auto-share recipients

Leave the sharing selection empty. This means:

• Emails to only Claire stay private to Claire
• Emails to only Hubert stay private to Hubert
• Emails to both Claire and Hubert are automatically shared between them

4

Verify

Each user clicks the link in their verification email.