Microsoft Outlook - Adding a Shared Account (Mail Merge) in Windows

Summary

It is possible to add a departmental shared mailbox as a separate profile in Outlook to use separately from your personal KU email profile or so that it can be used with features of other applications, such as Microsoft's Mail Merge. Before setting up an additional profile, you will need to set up your personal KU email in Microsoft Outlook.These instructions include screenshots and details for Windows 10. Other versions of Windows may use a slightly different process.

1. Open the Control Panel on your computer by clicking the Start Menu icon and typing Control Panel.

2. Open the Mail section, located in the User Accounts category.

   • If you're having trouble finding this option, use the Search box in the upper right and search Mail to narrow down the options. 

3. Click the Show Profiles... button on the Mail Setup box.
   

4. Click the Add button below the list of existing email address profiles.
   

5. Enter the email address of your shared mailbox and click OK.
   

6. Select Manual setup or additional server types, and click Next.
              

7. Fill in the email address in the Microsoft 365 login box, and click Next.
   

8. Click Finish once the account setup process is complete.

   • The checkbox for Set up Outlook Mobile on my phone, too will be selected by default. Deselect this box if you do not want to engage in this step.

9. Select Prompt for a profile to be used to have Outlook ask which profile you want to load when opening the application. Click Apply, and then close the window.
   

   • If you do not want Outlook to prompt you for which profile to use, you will need to set your default profile to Always use this profile. You will then need to switch between your profiles by following the below instructions:

     1. Click File in the upper left corner of Outlook.\

     2. Click Account Settings.

     3. Select Change Profile.                                                                                                               

     4. Click OK when alerted that Outlook will close.                             

     5. Launch Outlook again. You will be prompted to choose a profile this time when you open it, per Step 11 in the instructions below.

10. Open Outlook on your computer.

    • If you have a shortcut to Outlook on your desktop that you have used prior to creating the secondary profile, this bookmark will not open the Choose Profile prompt when launching Outlook.

11. Choose the profile you want to use and select OK.                                                                                                           

You may add multiple additional profiles to your Outlook account using this process. This process will sync emails, calendars, and contacts into Outlook.