Designating a User as a Mailbox Delegate

For administration and troubleshooting purposes, sometimes you have to access a user's mailbox. There also may be occasions where it is appropriate for a second user to have access to a mailbox. This second user is referred to as a mailbox delegate.

You can give users delegate permissions for a mailbox by modifying the Active Directory user account that is associated with the mailbox. Use Active Directory Users and Computers for this task. You can give different levels of access to the mailbox:

• If you give the second user the access level of Full Mailbox Access, Exchange treats that user as the mailbox owner. The second user does not need any other permissions on folders in the mailbox.

  Important

  Always use care when modifying permissions. An unscrupulous user with Full Mailbox Access to other users' mailboxes can cause damage to the mailboxes or their contents.

• If you give the second user an access level other than Full Mailbox Access, the original mailbox owner can use Outlook to set permissions for the second user on folders in the mailbox.

To give someone access to another user's mailbox, you must have the appropriate permissions to modify user objects in Active Directory (see the Windows Help for more information about these permissions).

For detailed steps about how to give a user full access to another user's mailbox, see "How to Give a User Full Access to Another User's Mailbox" in Working with the Exchange Server 2003 Store.

For detailed steps about how to give a user the ability to send mail on behalf of another user, see "How to Use Outlook to Give a User the Ability to Send Mail on Your Behalf" and "How to Use Active Directory Users and Computers to Give a User the Ability to Send Mail on Behalf of Another User" in Working with the Exchange Server 2003 Store.

In this situation, the second user does not need permissions on the mailbox itself or items in the mailbox.