Accessing Public Folders

Public Folders are a popular way of creating additional email addresses, particularly when multiple people need to access the inbox. The main benefit of the Public Folder is that authentication is handled via your existing ECnet username and password, so there's no additional password to distribute, remember, or reset.

Because Public Folders are a deeply ingrained feature of Exchange, generally, only Microsoft products are able to access them. On a Mac, this means either Entourage 2008 or Outlook 2011. On Windows, any recent version of Outlook will be by far the best option. Skip ahead to your specific email application:

Microsoft Outlook 2003/2007/2010 for Windows

The default view in Outlook is Mail. In order to find the Public Folders, you need to switch to the Folder List view.

The easiest way to change to the Folder List is via the icon shortcut above. Click on the folder to get to the Folder List.

You can now expand the list of Public Folders to find the one you are looking for.

If your Public Folder is mail-enabled, and you have been granted Send As permission, you are able to send email from that email address.

• Click on the Options tab
• Click on From in the Show Fields section of the Ribbon
• Now you will have an additional field in your message composition window where you can change the From address. Click Other E-mail Address... and specify the address of the Public Folder.

Microsoft Outlook 2011 for Mac OS X

From the main Outlook window, click on the Tools tab, and then the Public Folders button.

The Public Folders window opens, and you can browse to the folder you are looking for. Click Subscribe. After you subscribe to the Public Folder, it will be available in the list of mail folders on the left.

If your Public Folder is mail-enabled, and you have been granted Send As permission, you are able to send email from that email address; Outlook just needs a bit of configuration to set that up.

Click on the Tools menu at the top of the screen, and then click on Accounts...

Make sure that your account is selected on the left side and click Advanced...

Click on the Delegates tab, and then click the Plus sign under the "People I am a delegate for:" section.

Enter the name of the Public Folder and click Find. Select the result in the list and click OK. Click OK again to close the Advanced properties window and then close the Accounts window.

Now, when you send or reply to an email, there is an extra field available marked From: where you can change the address your email is sent from.

Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac OS X

From the main Entourage window, you will find the Public Folders on the left side list of mail folders. You can expand the list to find the Public Folder you are looking for.

If your Public Folder is mail-enabled, and you have been granted Send As permission, you are able to send email from that email address; Entourage just needs a bit of configuration to set that up.

Click on the Tools menu at the top of the screen, and then click on Accounts...

Make sure that your account is selected in the list and either double-click the account name or right-click and click Open Account.

Click on the Delegate tab, and then click the Add... button under the "Users I am a delegate for" section.

Enter the name of the Public Folder and click Find. Select the result in the list and click OK. Click OK again to close the Advanced properties window and then close the Accounts window.

Now, when you send or reply to an email, there is an extra field available marked From: where you can change the address your email is sent from.

ECmail on the web

Public Folders are available using ECmail, but only if you're using Internet Explorer on a Windows computer. When you first log in, the main view is the Mail view. You can switch to the Public Folder view by clicking on the button labeled Public Folders at the bottom of the list on the left. You can expand the list to find the folder you are looking for. Send As ability is not supported in ECmail. Any browser other than Internet Explorer will not be able to access Public Folders through ECmail.