How to get a list of shared mailboxes in Exchange Online

Regularly auditing your shared mailboxes is a key administrative task for maintaining security and operational efficiency. When shared mailboxes are unmonitored, they can become repositories for outdated data, or worse, pose security risks if access permissions are not properly managed.

For admins, manually tracking these mailboxes can be tedious, especially in large organizations. Without a straightforward way to list them, it's difficult to ensure they are being used appropriately, have the correct permissions assigned, and are not consuming unnecessary resources.

Method 1: How to get a list of shared mailboxes using the Exchange admin center

Prerequisites

• You need the Exchange Administrator role for the account you use to sign in to the Exchange admin center.

Steps

1. Log in to the Exchange admin center and navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes.
2. Click the Filter button and select Shared mailbox from the drop-down.
3. You can now view a list of all shared mailboxes. You can also export this list to a CSV file by clicking Export mailboxes.

Limitation to consider

• You have to reapply filters every time you need an updated list of your shared mailboxes.

Method 2: How to get a list of shared mailboxes using Exchange Online PowerShell

Prerequisites

Before using Exchange Online PowerShell, please verify that:

1. The Exchange Administrator role is applied to the account you use to sign in to Exchange Online PowerShell.
2. You are connected to the Exchange Online module
   • To check if the ExchangeOnlineManagement PowerShell module is installed, use this script:
     Copy

     Install-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement -Scope CurrentUser

   • Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell with this script:
     Copy

     Connect-ExchangeOnline

Using Get-Mailbox to export a list of shared mailboxes in Exchange Online

The Get-Mailbox cmdlet can be used to retrieve a list of all shared mailboxes along with their key properties.

Use this syntax to retrieve a list of shared mailboxes:

Get-Mailbox -RecipientTypeDetails SharedMailbox -ResultSize Unlimited |
    Select-Object DisplayName, PrimarySmtpAddress, WhenCreated |
    Export-Csv -Path "C:\Reports\SharedMailboxes-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd HHmmss).csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8

Using the new Get-EXOMailbox cmdlet per Microsoft's recommendation

Microsoft recommends using Get-EXOMailbox instead of Get-Mailbox in Exchange Online. The EXO cmdlets are optimized for the cloud service, offer better throttling management, and will continue to be updated, whereas the older cmdlets are maintained mainly for backward compatibility.

Use this syntax to retrieve the shared mailboxes in Exchange Online:

Get-EXOMailbox -RecipientTypeDetails SharedMailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -Properties Alias |
    Select-Object DisplayName, PrimarySmtpAddress, Alias, WhenCreated |
    Export-Csv -Path "C:\Reports\SharedMailboxes-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmmss).csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8

Supported parameters

The following table contains some parameters that can be used with the Get-Mailbox and Get-EXOMailbox cmdlet to provide details on your shared mailboxes.

An example use case for the Get-Mailbox cmdlet

Scenario: An IT administrator needs to conduct a quarterly audit of all shared mailboxes created in the last year to ensure they are still in use and have the correct permissions.

This is the cmdlet you will have to run to generate a report of all shared mailboxes created within the last 365 days:

$date = (Get-Date).AddDays(-365)

Get-Mailbox -RecipientTypeDetails SharedMailbox -ResultSize Unlimited |
    Where-Object { $_.WhenCreated -ge $date } |
    Select-Object DisplayName, PrimarySmtpAddress, WhenCreated |
    Export-Csv -Path "C:\Reports\SharedMailboxes_LastYear.csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8
				

Note: You can also use the modern Get-EXOMailbox cmdlet to export a list of shared mailboxes. This cmdlet provides faster performance and improved handling of large datasets, such as the list of all shared mailboxes in your organization:

$date = (Get-Date).AddDays(-365)
Get-EXOMailbox -RecipientTypeDetails SharedMailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -Properties WhenCreated,Alias |
    Where-Object { $_.WhenCreated -ge $date } |
    Select-Object DisplayName, PrimarySmtpAddress, Alias, WhenCreated |
    Export-Csv -Path "C:\Reports\SharedMailboxes_LastYear.csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8
				

Method 3: How to view a list of Exchange Online shared mailboxes in M365 Manager Plus

1. Log in to M365 Manager Plus and click the Reports tab.
2. Navigate to Other Exchange Reports.
3. Click the Shared Mailboxes report to view a comprehensive list of all shared mailboxes in your organization.

Monitor your Exchange Online shared mailboxes and more

M365 Manager Plus’ shared mailbox management capabilities help you view, monitor, and control shared mailboxes across your Microsoft 365 environment. It simplifies permission audits, highlights inactive mailboxes, and provides proactive alerts.

Important tips

Frequently asked questions