Home → Admin Manual → Email Setup and Troubleshooting → Connecting to a Shared Mailbox In Microsoft 365

1.1. Connecting to a Shared Mailbox In Microsoft 365

Shared mailboxes can be connected using the Microsoft Entra consent flow, but the admin consent step may be inconsistent. In testing, the standard “grant consent” flow did not work reliably. The steps below use the “request consent” path. The shared mailbox must have a password enabled and allow logins but it technically does not need a mailbox license. 

Prepare the shared mailbox account

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Users | Active Users.
2. Find the shared mailbox account and confirm sign-in is not blocked.
   
3. Reset the password so the account has credentials for the OAuth flow.

Enable user consent requests in Microsoft Entra

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center.
2. Go to Consent and permissions | Admin consent settings.
3. Enable the setting that allows users to request consent for an application.
   

Connect the shared mailbox using the “request consent” flow

1. In HelpSpot, start the mailbox authentication flow.
2. Sign in using the shared mailbox credentials.
3. At the Microsoft consent screen, select request consent, then close that window.
4. Check the HelpSpot admin email account for a message containing a link to review the consent request.
5. Open the link and grant admin consent to the application.
6. Return to HelpSpot and run the mailbox authentication flow again using the shared mailbox credentials.

Confirm the mailbox being connected

After pasting the key back into HelpSpot, a confirmation line shows which email address HelpSpot is connecting to. Verify it displays the shared mailbox address and not a personal mailbox address.