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 support@acme.com.
Add the account
Go to Settings > Accounts and click Add account.
Choose shared account
Select Yes, share this account during setup.
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 admin@acme.com as a personal account but want to share only emails sent to help@acme.com (an alias).
Connect as personal account
Go to Settings > Accounts > Add account and connect admin@acme.com as a personal account.
Add the shared address
Go to Settings > Organizations > Message sharing.
Click Add a shared address and enter help@acme.com.
Select delivery method
Choose Team Inbox or Inbox and select who should receive these emails.
Verify
Click the link in the verification email sent to help@acme.com.
This doesn't let teammates send from help@acme.com 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
help@acme.com is a Google Group that forwards to everyone on your team.
Connect personal accounts
Each team member connects their personal Gmail account (the one receiving Google Group forwards).
Add shared address
Go to Settings > Organizations > Message sharing.
Click Add a shared address and enter help@acme.com.
Skip auto-sharing
Don't select anyone to auto-share with. Users already receive these emails in their personal accounts.
Verify
Each user clicks the link in the verification email.
Add alias for sending (optional)
If teammates need to send from help@acme.com, 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.
Open the conversation
Find the email you want to share.
Mention teammates
Type @ in the comment composer and select the teammate you want to share with.
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).
Connect as personal account
Go to Settings > Accounts > Add account and connect your email as a personal account.
Create a rule
Go to Settings > Rules and create a new personal rule.
Add condition
Set the condition: From is vendor@company.com
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)
Share the account
The team member opens Settings > Accounts, selects their account, and clicks Share the account... at the top.
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.
Make private again later
When the team member returns, they open Settings > Accounts, select the account, and click Make account private.
Option 2: Share as personal account with auto-archive
Share the account
The team member opens Settings > Accounts, selects their account, and clicks Share the account... at the top.
Select Inbox sharing
Choose Inbox as the delivery method.
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.
Make private again later
When the team member returns, they open Settings > Accounts, select the account, and click Make account private.
Auto-collaborate when both you and a teammate are recipients
You want to automatically share emails when both claire@acme.com and hubert@acme.com are recipients.
Connect personal accounts
Each user connects their email as a personal account.
Add shared addresses
Go to Settings > Organizations > Message sharing.
Add shared addresses for both claire@acme.com and hubert@acme.com.
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
Verify
Each user clicks the link in their verification email.
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