Frequently Asked Questions

Similar to having an assistant help you manage your incoming paper mail, you can use Microsoft Outlook to allow another person, known as a delegate, to receive and respond to e-mail messages and meeting requests and responses on your behalf. You can also grant additional permissions that allow your delegate to read, create, or have more control over items in your Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox.

As the person granting permission, you determine the level of access that the delegate has to your folders. You can grant a delegate permission to read items in your folders or to read, create, change, and delete items. By default, when you add a delegate, the delegate has full access to your Calendar and Tasks folders. The delegate can also respond to meeting requests on your behalf.

Turn on Delegate Access
A delegate automatically receives Send on Behalf permissions. By default, the delegate can read only the meeting requests and responses sent to the manager. The delegate does not have access to read any other messages in your Inbox.

1. Click the File tab.
2. Click Account Settings, and then click Delegate Access.
3. Click Add.
4. Type the name of the person whom you want to designate as your delegate, or search for and then click the name in the search results list.
5. Click Add, and then click OK.
6. In the Delegate Permissions dialog box, you can accept the default permission settings or select custom access levels for Exchange folders.  If a delegate needs permission to work only with meeting requests and responses, the default permission settings, including Delegate receives copies of meeting-related messages sent to me, are sufficient.  You can leave the Inbox permission setting at None. Meeting requests and responses will go directly to the delegate's Inbox.
   NOTE By default, the delegate is granted Editor (can read, create, and modify items) permission to your Calendar folder. When the delegate responds to a meeting on your behalf, it is automatically added to your Calendar folder.
7. To send a message to notify the delegate of the changed permissions, select the Automatically send a message to delegate summarizing these permissions check box.
8. If you want, select the Delegate can see my private items check box.
   IMPORTANT This is a global setting that affects all of your Exchange folders, including all Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, and Journal folders. You cannot allow access to private items in only one folder.
9. Click OK.

NOTE Messages sent with Send on Behalf permissions include both the delegate's and manager's names next to From. When a message is sent with Send As permissions, only the manager's name appears.


Change permissions for your delegate

1. Click the File tab.
2. Click Account Settings, and then click Delegate Access.
3. Click the name of the delegate for whom you want to change permissions, and then click Permissions.
   NOTE If you want to remove all Delegate Access permissions, do not click Permissions but instead click Remove and skip the remainder of these steps.
4. Change the permissions for any Outlook folder that the delegate has access to.
5. To send a message to notify the delegate of the changed permissions, select the Automatically send a message to delegate summarizing these permissions check box.
   NOTE If you want copies of meeting requests and responses that you receive to be sent to a delegate, make sure the delegate is assigned Editor (can read, create, and modify items) permission to your Calendar folder, and then select the Delegate receives copies of meeting-related messages sent to me check box.
6. Change delegate access to private items

If you have assigned permissions to a delegate so that he or she can access your Outlook folders, you can hide personal information in appointments, meetings, tasks, and contacts. Open each personal item, and on the Calendar Tools tab, in the Tags group, click Private.

If you want to give a delegate access to see your private items, do the following:

1. Click the File tab.
2. Click Account Settings, and then click Delegate Access.
3. Click the name of the delegate for whom you want to change access to your private appointments, and then click Permissions.
4. Select the Delegate can see my private items check box.
   IMPORTANT You should not rely on the Private feature to prevent other people from accessing the details of your appointments, contacts, or tasks. To make sure that other people cannot read the items that you marked as private, do not grant them Reviewer (can read items) permission to your Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks folder.