Sending Mail Merge from Outlook shared mailbox

Hello! It's me again! Sorry to bother you! Yesterday I had issues with sending out a mail merge from my personal email account and you suggested sending them from a shared mailbox. We created adoptions@byui.edu as the shared mailbox.  I am now ready to send, but I need to select this shared mailbox as my default account or else the mail merge will send it through my personal account again.  Because I don't have full permissions of the adoptions@byui.edu, I cannot select it as my default.  Can you give me suggestions on how to do this? Would I have to add the adoptions@byui.edu as a different account and link it to my personal account instead of adding it as a shared mailbox?  

Instructions I found to force a default account:Microsoft Word’s built-in Mail Merge always uses the default Outlook account. To send from a shared mailbox, you must temporarily make it the default or use a dedicated Outlook profile for that mailbox.

Method 1: Temporarily Set Shared Mailbox as Default

  1. Open Outlook and go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.

  2. In the Email tab, select the shared mailbox account.

  3. Click Set as Default.

  4. Restart Outlook to apply the change.

  5. Run your Word mail merge; emails will now send from the shared mailbox.

  6. After sending, repeat steps to set your original account back as default.

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Asked by Amy Ayala on Thu 3/12/26 11:37 AM
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Answer (1)

This answer has been marked as the accepted answer
Ian Black Thu 3/12/26 4:39 PM

Hi Amy,

I've been talking with our email team and it seems like following the instructions you looked up and listed above should work to get those emails sent out. That's basically the system that they use in these situations as well. If that doesn't work, or you have further questions, feel free to give us a call at (208) 496-9009, and we can hopefully get you set up.

Best,

Ian Black

IT Service Desk

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These directions as well as sending mail merge only works through the Classic Outlook. However, I do not have the option to select the adoptions.byui.edu as the default. First of all, it doesn't show up in my list, and 2nd the "set as default" is greyed out. Suggestions? I have a screenshot if helpful...I'm not seeing where I can attach it here. I will call in the morning so we can collaborate. Thanks! - Amy Ayala Thu 3/12/26 4:57 PM