Shared Mailbox Folders Not Showing Up in Outlook 365 Fixed

Users may complain about shared mailbox folders not showing up in Outlook 365 if they can’t find them in the navigation pane. Despite a thorough scan of their account, the users are unable to pinpoint the location of the shared mailbox. 

This can be quite a scare, as shared mailboxes form a core component of multi-member collaboration that Office 365 is known for. Losing such important functionality over such a trivial issue is embarrassing in a professional scenario. 

Don’t worry, as we have prepared this write-up and filled it with all the right instructions to make the shared mailbox and its underlying subfolders visible again. However, it is better to first lay out the possible causes of this issue, then it will be easier to understand the solutions.

Reasons Why Shared Mailbox Subfolders Are Not Visible in Outlook

Here is a list of the most common situations:

Technical Glitch/Sync issues: Due to poor network or slow devices, Outlook can struggle to reflect all changes instantaneously. So we recommend waiting for a few minutes and letting the issue resolve on its own. If this does not work, close the current instance and open the app again. Pair this with a login-logout activity.

Cluttered Folder Structure: The biggest culprit for users is a clumsy Outlook dashboard. Anything from improper hierarchy to loads of unnecessary subfolders can fill up the navigation pane. This makes it quite difficult to locate the missing shared mailbox.

Access not given: Admins may have mistakenly chosen the wrong person while assigning permissions. There is a high chance for this to happen if there are multiple people with the same name. If you think a mistake has been made, inform the admin about the issue. 

Shared Mailbox Limit Breached: Even though there is no hard limit on how many people can have access to a shared mailbox, it is been an industry standard to keep the number below 25. Moreover, shared mailbox oversubscription is known to cause many issues, including it becoming invisible.

Access revoked: It is also possible that earlier a user had access to the shared mailbox but due to some internal policy changes, it was taken away. This will result in the shared mailbox disappearing on its own. Moreover, if user believe this is the case, then they should take a look at their primary mailbox, it should contain a message informing them about the changes.

Shared Mailbox Deleted: Other than that, the permanent removal of a shared mailbox from the admin center is why users can’t find it. This can also occur if a shared mailbox is reconverted to a user mailbox.

Undo Shared Mailbox Folders Not Showing up in Outlook Classic

There are 4 methods available:

Generate and Check Logs

• Step 1. Launch Outlook 
• Step 2. Go to File > Options > Advanced > Enable troubleshooting logging > click OK.

• Step 3. Restart Outlook
• Step 4. Check logs in C:/Users/UserName/AppData/Temp or %localappdata%/Temp folder
• Step 5. Finally, analyze logs to identify and resolve Shared Mailbox issues.

Disable Auto-Mapping

• Step 1. Use PowerShell as an administrator and connect to Office 365.
• Step 2. Keep a Copy of Credentials with cmdlet: $Credentials = Get-Credential
• Step 3. Then, remove existing mailbox permissions
• Step 4. Re-add permissions with auto-mapping disabled
• Step 5. Add shared mailbox manually in Outlook

Manually  Repair Shared Mailbox Folders Not Showing up in Outlook 365 Classic

• Step 1. In Outlook, go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
• Step 2. Under the email tab, double-click the email and select “More Settings”.
• Step 3. Then, enable “Download Shared folders” in the Advanced tab.
• Step 4. Finally, add the shared mailbox name and press OK > Apply > OK.

Recreate Outlook Profile

• Step 1. Close Outlook and open the Control Panel
• Step 2. Then, Open Mail > Show Profiles > Add
• Step 3. Build a new profile with the same M365 credentials.
• Step 4. Then, re-launch Outlook with the new profile
• Step 5. Wait until the profile syncs and then view the Shared mailbox status again.

Use Outlook Web as a Possible Solution

Note that if users don’t solve the issue then they won’t be able to export the distribution list to Excel Office 365 at all.

• Log in to Outlook Web and hover over the Folders tab in the left side pane.
• Click on the three dots 
• Select “Add shared folder or mailbox”

• Put in the name of the shared folder and select it from the drop-down then press Add.
• The Shared Folder should appear in the left-hand pane alongside other tabs.

Other alternative approaches include: 

• Turning off Shared Mailbox Caching. 
• Checking/disabling add-ins. 
• Making sure the client is up-to-date.

If Shared Mailbox Missing from Outlook Web
The same steps can be replicated in Outlook’s new desktop variant, as their GUI is almost identical. 

For admins, the steps differ a bit:

First log in to the admin center > toggle Teams & groups > Go to Shared mailbox > Click on Add a Shared Mailbox > type the name and set the domain > Hit Save changes.

Populate the member list and ask the members to add the mailbox in their individual account.

Fix Shared Mailbox Missing from Outlook Mobile App

First up ensure that you have logged in via a business account and not a private one. This is because the private account cannot add/view shared mailboxes. Then proceed with these steps:

• Tap on your profile icon > Hit the + button 
• Select “Add a shared mailbox option” from the popup 
• Type the shared mailbox name, then Hit Continue.

Recheck all the mailboxes below the home icon if everything is working, you should find your shared mailbox right there. 

If you face issues like shared mailbox folders not showing up in Outlook 365 again, then use the series of steps given below. These are valid for both Android and iOS devices.

• Close Outlook and remove it from the background.
• Then, go to settings and locate the app manager.
• Find Outlook and force stop the app manually.
• Then, like a factory reset on the Outlook app, clear out all app data (not just the cache).
• Finally open Outlook again > Add all accounts (this includes shared mailbox too).

What to Do After Retrieving Shared Mailboxes in Outlook?

The answer to that is simple, create a backup. Having an offline copy of regular mail is common but the same can’t be said for the shared mailboxes. As multiple users have access to this entity, every user is under the impression that someone else has a backup. 

However, if every shared mailbox access holder thinks like that, then no one prepares a backup and in case of a mass missing request, all the shared mailbox conversations are lost for good. 

Don’t worry, you need not download each email individually; instead, there is a way better solution tailor-made to make the backup process as easy as possible. It is the Systools Office 365 Backup tool. This piece of software comes with all sorts of filters and features to create an offline copy of every important thing inside a shared mailbox.  

Download Now Purchase Now

Especially if it’s the admin who has lost access. So use this straight path to diminish the effect of missing shared folders.

Download a copy > Choose Endpoints > Select Workload > Apply Date Filter > Validate Source > Pick a Destination > Map Users > Preview and Backup.

Conclusion

After this read, users no longer have to struggle with shared mailbox folders not showing up in Outlook 365 web, mobile, and desktop applications. Moreover, here we laid out all the possible reasons and gave users a multi-pronged approach to deal with the missing mailbox issue. Even after the users are able to successfully locate the shared entity, it’s important to have a backup of the file in case of similar emergencies. This requirement was also taken care of with the help of the automated solution.