Shared mailboxes can be set with Set-Mailbox-Type Shared

A user mailbox may need to be converted to a shared mailbox at some point. Possibly during the user life cycle management of Office 365 mailboxes when a user leaves an organization.

In this post, I will show you how to convert an Office 365 mailbox to a shared mailbox using PowerShell's Set-Mailbox command.

Additionally, you'll learn how to do it via the Active Directory Users & Computers management console and the Exchange Admin Center.

Mailbox Conversion Using PowerShell

You can convert your Office 365 mailbox to a shared mailbox by using the Set-Mailbox PowerShell command. Here's how:g a connection with Exchange Online (lines 1 – 3).

"$UserCredential = Get-Credential

$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection

Import-PSSession $Session -DisableNameChecking

Set-Mailbox [email protected] -Type Shared

Remove-PSSession $Session"

Convert the mailbox type using the Set-Mailbox command (line 4).

End your Exchange Online session when done (line 5). You risk depleting the number of available sessions if you do not explicitly close the session.

Use these parameters to convert your mailbox to a different mailbox type than Shared: Regular (user), Room, and Equipment.

Take a look at the RecipientTypeDetails of the mailbox to verify the conversion:

"PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-Mailbox Marketing | fl Name,RecipientTypeDetails

Name : Marketing

RecipientTypeDetails : SharedMailbox"

License Considerations

In Office 365, shared mailboxes do not require a license, but you must have your own personal mailbox (which must be licensed) to access them. In addition, if you want your shared mailbox to store more than 50 GB or to have an archive, you need to license it.

After converting the mailbox to a shared mailbox, you shouldn't delete the user account. The user account is still required, even though you cannot use it to log in.

Mailbox Conversion Using Active Directory Users and Computers

The Active Directory Users & Computers MMC can also be used to perform the mailbox conversion.

This procedure requires the Easy365Manager snapin to be installed.

Click on the Mailbox tab within user properties. Select the desired mailbox type:

Once the mailbox is converted to a shared mailbox, you can remove the license. As shown in the following screenshot, you can do the same thing with the Easy365Manager tool:

Alternatively, you can remove the Exchange Online license through the Office 365 Admin Portal.

Easy 365Manager can make life easier for your admins. Don't switch between multiple tools throughout the day. AD Users & Computers allows you to manage AD user and email configurations, Office 365 mailboxes, and Office 365 licenses.