Delegating an inbox (e.g. shared support@)

How to give another person access to read, send, and manage email on behalf of a Gmail account — ideal for shared inboxes like support@ or admin@.

Gmail delegation lets one person manage another person's inbox — reading, replying, and organizing email on their behalf — without sharing their password. This is the right way to handle shared inboxes like support@, billing@, or an executive assistant managing their boss's email.

Quick summary

Go to Gmail Settings → See all settings → Accounts → Grant access to your account. Enter the delegate's email address. They accept the invitation, then reach your inbox from the profile menu in their own Gmail. When a delegate sends a message from your account, Google says their email address appears on it — your admin controls whether recipients see the delegate's address as well as yours, or only yours.

When to use delegation

Delegation is the right tool when:

You have a shared inbox (support@, billing@, info@) that more than one person monitors
An executive assistant needs to manage a manager's inbox
A team member covers for a colleague during leave

For a truly shared inbox that multiple people actively use, you may also want to consider using a Google Group, which routes email to multiple people. Both approaches have their place, and they combine: if your admin allows it, a group can be added as a delegate, which gives everyone in that group access to the one mailbox and counts as a single delegate.

Setting up delegation (the account owner does this)

Sign in to the Gmail account that you want to share access to (e.g., support@yourcompany.com), on a computer. You can't add delegates from the Gmail app.

Click the gear icon → See all settings. Google may ask you to verify your identity first, since this is a sensitive change.

Click the Accounts and Import tab (on some accounts it's labeled just "Accounts").

Find "Grant access to your account" and click Add another account.

Enter the delegate's email address — for example, jane@yourcompany.com.

Click Next Step, then Send email to grant access.

The delegate receives an invitation email with a confirmation link. They must click it to accept, and the invitation expires after a week.

Delegation works inside your own organization: you can only add other people or groups in your organization, though it doesn't matter which domain or org unit they're in. The shared address also has to be a real account — you can't add delegates to an alias, because an alias isn't a Google Account. Allow up to 24 hours before a new delegate can actually use the account.

One thing that quietly breaks this: if the shared account is set to require a password change at next sign-in, delegates get an error. Sign in to the account, reset the password and clear that setting first.

Accessing a delegated inbox (the delegate does this)

Do this on a computer. Google is rolling out access to delegated accounts in the Gmail app for Android, iPhone and iPad, but says it may not be available to you yet, and some features are missing there.

Open Gmail while signed in to your own account.

Click your profile photo in the top right.

Find the account marked "Delegated" in the menu and click its name.

A new tab opens showing the owner's inbox. You can read, reply, and organize email there. Check the address at the top to be sure you're in the right account.

Email sent from a delegated inbox

By default, a message a delegate sends carries the delegate's email address as well as the account owner's, so recipients can see who actually wrote it. Your Workspace admin can switch this to show the account owner's address only. Either way, the message goes out from the shared account.

Don't bookmark a delegated inbox

Google's advice is to reach it through the profile menu every time. The access link can change, and a saved bookmark stops working.

What delegates can and can't do

They CAN:

Read, reply to, and forward emails
Delete emails and manage labels
Search the inbox
Compose and send new emails from the shared account

They CANNOT:

Change the password
Reach the account's Google Account settings
Chat as the account, or use Meet in Gmail
Use Gemini in Gmail, Smart Compose, Smart Reply or autocomplete
Add Drive attachments, Google Photos or Tasks
React to messages with emoji, or use spelling and grammar checks

Google's summary is that delegating your inbox grants permission to manage your email only: features that reach into non-email services or sensitive account settings stay off limits.

Managing delegation as an admin

Workspace admins control whether people can delegate at all:

Go to Admin console → Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail → User settings, then click Mail delegation and tick Let users delegate access to their mailbox to other users in the domain. You can apply it to one org unit rather than everyone, choose whether recipients see the delegate's address as well as the owner's, and allow a Google group to be used as a delegate. Changes can take up to 24 hours, though they're usually quicker.

If delegation isn't working, check this setting first.

Common questions

Can I delegate my inbox to someone outside my organization?

No. At work you can only add other people or groups in your own organization as a delegate. If someone inside the organization still can't be added, ask your admin whether delegation is switched on.

Will the account owner see what the delegate sent?

Yes. Messages a delegate sends go out from the shared account, and unless your admin has changed the sender setting, the delegate's own address appears on them too, so it's clear who replied.

Can I have multiple delegates?

Yes, and far more than you'll need: a work or school account supports up to 1,000 delegates. (Personal @gmail.com accounts are the ones capped at 10.) The practical limit is how many use it at once — Google says about 40 delegates can be in a Gmail account at the same time, and heavy use or automated tools such as APIs and browser extensions reduce that.

How do I remove delegate access?

Go to Gmail Settings → See all settings → Accounts and Import → Grant access to your account, and click Delete next to the account you want to remove.

A delegate is still getting in after the password expired

That's expected: an existing delegate keeps access even when the account's password has expired. To cut it off, reset the account's password or remove the delegate.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.