#office 365 tenant, #microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 encourages collaboration through Groups in Outlook, distribution lists (also called distribution groups), shared mailboxes, and public folders. Each of these options has a different purpose, user experience, and feature set. What to use depends on what the user needs to do and which tools your organization provides.
Microsoft 365 encourages collaboration through Groups in Outlook, distribution lists (also called distribution groups), shared mailboxes, and public folders. Each of these options has a different purpose, user experience, and feature set. What to use depends on what the user needs to do and which tools your organization provides.
This table explains the various collaboration options available to you with Microsoft 365.
Collaboration tool Description
Groups in Outlook A shared workspace that works across all applications in Microsoft 365. Includes a shared inbox, calendar, and OneDrive for Business site for storing files. Users can create, find, and join Groups in Outlook right from their email or calendar. New and existing users with an Exchange Online or Microsoft 365 subscription can use Groups in Outlook.
Shared mailbox A mailbox for select users to read and send email messages and share a common calendar. Shared mailboxes also can serve as a generic email address (such as info@contoso.com or sales@contoso.com) that customers can use to inquire about your company. When the Send As permission is enabled on the shared mailbox, email sent from the mailbox will use the generic address (e.g., sales@contoso.com).
Distribution list (also called Used to distribute email messages
distribution group) to two or more people at the same
time. Distribution groups are also
known as mail-enabled distribution
groups. A variant of the
distribution group, called the
dynamic distribution group, is a
mail-enabled Active Directory group
object used to send email to a
large and evolving group of
recipients. The exact recipients
are determined by filters and
conditions that you specify, such
as all members of a particular
locale or all full-time employees.
Microsoft 365 Groups in Outlook offer
a more powerful solution for
collaboration than distribution
groups. To learn more, see Why you
should upgrade your distribution
lists to groups in Outlook and
Migrate distribution lists to
Microsoft 365 Groups.
The following table gives you a quick glance at the various types of groups and explains when and how to use them with the various collaboration features of Microsoft 365.
Groups in Outlook
Distribution lists
Shared mailboxes
Public folders
Who uses?
Users who want a collaboration workspace for their group messages, files, and calendar that is integrated with the Microsoft 365 services they already use (Outlook Web App, OneDrive for Business).
Users who need to send email to a group of recipients with a common interest or characteristic.
Shared mailboxes are a great way to handle customer email questions because several people in your organization can share the responsibility of monitoring the mailbox and responding to queries. Your customer questions get quicker answers, and related emails are all stored in one mailbox.
Delegates working on behalf of a virtual identity, such as support@contoso.com. Delegates can respond to email at that shared mailbox identity.
With the proper permissions, everyone in your organization can access and search public folders. They are ideal for email archiving or for sharing documents.
Ideal group size
Any
Large
Small
Large
Access
Exchange Online and Microsoft 365 users.
For distribution groups, members must be manually added. For dynamic distribution groups, members are added based on filtering criteria.
Users can be granted Full Access and/or Send As permissions. If granted Full Access permissions, users must also add the shared mailbox to their Outlook profile to access the shared mailbox.
Accessible by anyone in your organization.
Shared calendar?
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Email arrives in user's personal Inbox?
No. Users can subscribe to a group and then forward all Group messages to their inbox.
Yes. Email arrives in the inbox of all distribution group members.
No. Email arrives in the inbox of the shared mailbox.
No. Email arrives in the public folder.
Supported clients
Outlook 2016
Outlook 2013 (forward after subscribing)
Outlook Web App
Outlook 2010 (forward after subscribing)
Outlook 2007 (forward after subscribing)
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Outlook 2016
Outlook 2013
Outlook Web App
Outlook 2010
Outlook 2007
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Outlook 2016
Outlook 2013
Outlook Web App
Outlook 2010
Outlook 2007
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Outlook 2016
Outlook 2013
Outlook Web App
Outlook 2010
Outlook 2007
2018-09-27