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World desk3 min

How Exchange Mailbox Permissions Work: Full Access, Send As, and Delegation

Full Access opens and manages mailbox contents; Send As and Send on Behalf control how outgoing messages appear. Learn which Exchange permission fits each task.
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Exchange mailbox delegation is not one all-purpose access switch. Full Access lets a delegate open and manage mailbox contents; Send As lets them send as the mailbox; and Send on Behalf lets them send with their delegate role visible. These permissions are separate, so grant only what the person needs.

What is the difference between Full Access and Send As?

Full Access and Send As control different things: one governs access to mailbox contents, while the other governs the identity used for outgoing mail. Microsoft documents these as distinct recipient permissions in Exchange Online; Exchange Server has its own recipient-permissions guidance.

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Permission Read or manage mailbox contents? Send from the mailbox? What recipients see
Full Access Yes. The delegate can open the mailbox and view, add, and remove content. No, not by itself. No sending effect; this permission alone does not authorize sending as the mailbox.
Send As No. Yes. The message appears to come from the mailbox or group, without identifying the delegate in the From presentation.
Send on Behalf No. Yes. The delegate is identified as sending on behalf of the mailbox or group.

If a delegate has both Send As and Send on Behalf, Microsoft says Send As takes precedence. A permission to access a particular folder is narrower than Full Access and does not, by itself, grant either sending permission.

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How do I give someone access to a shared mailbox?

For a person who needs to open and manage a shared mailbox, assign Full Access. If they also need to send from it, add one sending permission separately: choose Send As when the message should appear to come from the shared mailbox, or Send on Behalf when recipients should see the delegate acting for it. Microsoft’s shared mailbox guidance covers Exchange Online; the available workflow depends on the Exchange environment and recipient type.

In Exchange Online, administrators can manage recipient permissions through the Exchange admin center or Exchange Online PowerShell. The general permissions guidance notes that its Exchange admin center workflow does not provide shared-mailbox Send on Behalf; Microsoft describes using the Set-Mailbox cmdlet for that shared-mailbox permission. Check the current Microsoft instructions for the specific recipient and deployment before applying a command.

These are delegate permissions, not mailbox credentials. Granting them does not give the delegate a password or mean they should sign in as the shared mailbox.

Can Full Access send email from a mailbox?

No. Full Access lets someone open and manage the mailbox, but does not grant permission to send as it. Add Send As or Send on Behalf separately if sending is required. Full Access can also expose sensitive content: Microsoft warns that delegates may be able to access items marked Private, with behavior depending on Exchange environment and client. Review Microsoft’s Exchange Server permissions guidance and Add-MailboxPermission reference for the applicable details.

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Why did a shared mailbox appear automatically in Outlook?

In Exchange Online, Full Access granted directly to an individual can trigger Outlook auto-mapping through Autodiscover, causing the mailbox to appear in that person’s Outlook profile. Full Access assigned to a group does not auto-map each group member’s profile. Microsoft documents an Exchange PowerShell option to turn off auto-mapping when granting Full Access: -AutoMapping $false. See the Add-MailboxPermission reference for the current syntax and context.

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How do folder permissions and hybrid deployments change the setup?

Mailbox delegation and folder permissions are different scopes. If someone only needs access to a calendar or another individual folder, use the appropriate folder-level permission rather than granting mailbox-wide Full Access by default. Folder permissions alone do not enable Send As or Send on Behalf; Microsoft explains this distinction in its EWS delegate-access guidance.

Hybrid deployments can involve mailboxes and delegates across Exchange Online and Exchange Server. Microsoft’s hybrid permissions guidance describes cross-environment Send on Behalf scenarios, Send As configuration in both environments for many scenarios, and auto-mapping considerations. There is no single safe recipe for every hybrid arrangement: confirm where the mailbox and delegate reside and follow the guidance for that configuration.

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