Create a Shared Mailbox/Distribution List Using Office 365 Groups

A new Microsoft Office 365 group allows you to collaborate with your teammates when writing documents, creating spreadsheets, working on project plans, or scheduling meetings.

You can also create a shared mailbox for a new email address you define such as info@davidson.edu 

Large scale changes can more efficiently be implemented by T&I through our admin console. Please reach out to ti@davidson.edu for more information.

1. Open a web browser and navigate to office365.davidson.edu
2. Log into Office 365 with your Davidson credentials.
3. On the Welcome screen, click on the Outlook icon
4. In the lower left corner of the Outlook 365 screen, click on the People icon  
5. Directly above the Navigation pane along the left side of your screen, click on the dropdown arrow next to New Contact, and select New Group
6. In the Create a group dialog box in the upper right corner of the screen:
   • In the Standard group section, click on the Next button.
   • In the Group name field, type in a name for the new group/distribution list.
   • Outlook will then let you know if the name is available. If available, the email address to be created will appear in the Group email address field.
   • We recommend adding a description so members can see what group they are joining.
   • If you would like control over the membership of the group, you can leave the Privacy setting set to Private. If you would like Davidson employees and students to be able to join the group on their own, change the Privacy setting to Public.
   • If the default selection is acceptable, you can leave the Language setting unchanged.
   • When you are ready to go, click on the Create button  at the top of the dialog box.
7. In the Add members dialog box in the upper right corner of the screen:
   • Type in the email address of the first member of the group and press the Enter key.
   • Type in the email address of the second member of the group and press the Enter key. Continue until all members have been added.
   • When you are finished, click on the Add button  at the top of the dialog box to create the new group.

Internal vs. External Email

By default, Office 365 groups can receive email from other Davidson students, faculty and staff but not from external sources. To allow emails from sources outside of the College, please use the following steps.

1. Open a browser and navigate to http://office365.davidson.edu 
2. Log into your Office 365 account and then click on the Outlook icon.
3. Once Outlook is open, look in the left frame for the Groups folder. You might need to scroll down if you have a lot of folders in your email account.
4. Within the Groups folder, click on the name of the group for which you'd like allow emails from external email accounts.
5. In the upper right corner of the screen, you will notice some text that identifies the number of members in your group. (For example, it might say .) Just to the right of this text, click on the Group settings "gear" icon 
6. You should now see the Group settings frame appear on the right side of your browser window. On the Group settings frame, click on the Edit group option.
7. You should now see the Edit group frame appear on the right side of your browser window. On the Edit group frame, click on the Let people outside your organization email the group check box.
8. In the upper left corner of the Edit group frame, click on the Save option.
9. In the upper right corner of the Group settings frame, you can click on the X to close the frame.