Converting a shared mailbox to a normal mailbox

Converting a shared mailbox to a normal mailbox

Overview

It's not possible to convert a shared mailbox to a normal mailbox. However, you can close down the shared mailbox and create a new mailbox using the same email prefix.

Limitations

  1.  Going from a shared mailbox to a normal mailbox doesn't give you the opportunity to retain or transfer the email archive. But there's a workaround for this.
  2. If you intend to share the new mailbox between multiple people, this will cause issues when logging in, as when someone logs in, it logs the other person out. And if one person sets up TFA, that will affect all others trying to log in.

Alternative

It might be worth thinking about using a Distribution List instead of a shared or normal mailbox, as that allows emails to be delivered to multiple named mailboxes. This is a more standard and supported method.

Method

In this method we're going to decommission a shared mailbox so you can create a new normal mailbox with the same prefix. e.g. going from allotments@mappington-pc.gov.uk as a shared mailbox, to allotments@mappington-pc.gov.uk as a normal mailbox.
  1. Log into the Mail Admin Console
  2. Go to Groups
  3. Go to Shared Mailboxes
  4. Click on the Shared Mailbox in question
  5. Go to Advanced Settings
  6. Go to Group Alias
  7. Click Add
  8. Enter the name of your mailbox but add "_archive" to it. e.g. "allotments_archive"
  9. Click Add
  10. Click the Star to set the new alias as the primary address
  11. Hover over the original address name and click the Delete icon


You can now follow the instructions to create a new normal mailbox: Adding a new email user.

The end result is an active but unused shared mailbox (allotments_archive) where you can refer to your email archive, and a new mailbox (allotments) where you can continue to receive email.