Options for sharing and delegating folders in Outlook 2016 for Mac

If you have a Microsoft Exchange account, you can share and delegate Outlook e-mail messages, events, contacts, tasks, and notes with people who are on the same Exchange server.

Sharing is most often used by peers who are working on the same project. The shared folder appears under a separate account in the other user's navigation pane. Depending on the sharing permissions, the person may be able to read, create, edit, or delete items in the shared folder.

Delegation involves granting permission to another person, known as a delegate, to receive and respond to e-mail messages and meeting requests on your behalf. You can also grant additional permissions that allow your delegate to read, create, or edit items in your Exchange account.

Note: When you delegate or share an address book, calendar, or mail folder, delegates or users who share those folders could view your private contacts, events, or e-mail messages by using other software applications. To help protect your privacy, put private items in a separate, non-shared address book, calendar, or mail folder.

Options for sharing a folder

When you share a folder, you can set permissions that define what each user who accesses the folder can do:

Permission level	Activities that a sharing user can perform
Owner	Create, read, modify, and delete all items in the shared folder. As an owner, a user can change the permission levels that others have for the folder.
Publishing Editor	Create, read, modify, and delete all items, and create subfolders.
Editor	Create, read, modify, and delete all items.
Publishing Author	Create and read items, create subfolders, and modify and delete items that you create.
Author	Create and read items, and modify and delete items that you create.
Nonediting Author	Create and read items, and delete items that you create.
Reviewer	Read items only.
Contributor	Create items only.
Custom	Perform activities defined by the folder owner.
Free/Busy time, subject, location	For calendar sharing only, read the free/busy information, subject, and location of calendar events
Free/Busy time	For calendar sharing only, read the free/busy information of calendar events
None	Not perform any activity. The user remains on the permissions list but has no permission and cannot open the folder.

Options for delegating a folder

When you add a delegate, you can give the delegate separate permission levels for your calendar, inbox, address book, tasks, and notes folders:

Permission level	Activities that a delegate can perform
Editor	Read, create, and modify items, including modifying and deleting items that the account owner created. For example, a delegate with Editor permissions can create meeting requests directly in the account owner's calendar and respond to meeting requests on the account owner's behalf.
Author	Read and create items, and modify and delete items that he or she creates.
Reviewer	Read items only. For example, the delegate can read messages in the account owner's inbox.

See also

Share a folder in an Exchange account

Open a shared calendar, address book, or e-mail folder

Add and manage your delegates

Become a delegate or stop being a delegate