A Guide to the Value, Benefits, and Setup of Delegated Mailboxes (with Recent Google Updates)
As your organization scales, managing high volumes of email communication efficiently becomes essential. Whether it's shared mailboxes for support, sales, or executive assistants managing inboxes on behalf of leaders—Gmail's delegated mailboxes offer a powerful solution.
Recently, Google announced significant improvements to how many users can access a delegated mailbox concurrently. This article explains what delegated mailboxes are, the benefits for your team, and how to set them up effectively.
✅ What Is a Delegated Mailbox?
A delegated mailbox allows one Gmail user to grant another user access to read, send, and manage their email—without sharing login credentials.
Common Use Cases:
Support or Sales Teams: Share access to
support@orsales@without switching accounts.Executive Assistants: Easily manage the inbox of an executive or manager.
Shared Departmental Mailboxes: Collaboratively handle
accounts@orinfo@emails.
📈 Recent Google Updates (June 2024)
Google has increased the limits on delegated mailbox access:
Previous Limit | New Limit |
25 configured users | Up to 1,000 configured users |
~10 concurrent users | Up to 40 concurrent users |
Note: While up to 1,000 users can be configured, only 40 can access the mailbox at the same time. High automation or scripts may reduce this number.
These updates enable larger teams to collaborate more efficiently without needing complex third-party tools.
🔑 Key Benefits of Delegated Mailboxes
1. Improved Team Collaboration
Multiple users can manage a single inbox, helping distribute workload and reduce response delays.
2. Increased Security
No need to share passwords. Each user logs in with their own credentials, maintaining individual access control.
3. Faster Response Times
Delegates can reply on behalf of the mailbox owner, ensuring timely follow-ups with customers and stakeholders.
4. Great for Admin Roles
Perfect for assistants, admins, or team leads to monitor and manage high-priority communications.
5. Minimal Setup Time
Delegated access can be granted in under a minute—no IT admin required for basic use cases.
👣 How to Set Up a Delegated Mailbox
Here’s a quick walkthrough for users who want to delegate their Gmail inbox:
Open Gmail and click the ⚙️ Settings icon.
Navigate to Accounts and Import.
Under Grant access to your account, click Add another account.
Enter the email address of the delegate.
The delegate will receive a confirmation email. Once accepted, they can access your mailbox via the Gmail interface.
Need to do this at scale? Admins can also use third-party tools or Google Workspace admin settings to manage access across users.
💡 Tips for Using Delegated Mailboxes Effectively
Avoid high-volume outbound sending from shared inboxes to prevent hitting Gmail limits.
Don’t use delegated mailboxes as a full support solution—for high-volume teams, consider tools like Zendesk.
Use calendar and contact delegation where appropriate, but note that delegates only have email access by default.
📬 Final Thoughts
Delegated mailboxes are a practical way to manage shared communication without compromising security or efficiency. With Google’s recent increase in user and concurrency limits, they’re now more powerful than ever.
If your team uses shared inboxes—or you're an executive, assistant, or manager juggling multiple accounts—this feature could streamline your day-to-day operations dramatically.