Working with a Shared or Delegated Mailbox's Google Contacts in New Gmail

This KB Article References: Google Contacts, Google Mail
This Information is Intended for: Instructors, Guests, Researchers, Staff, Students
Created: 09/28/2018 Last Updated: 04/09/2024

Shared Mailbox Contacts in New Gmail

In new Gmail, access to a Delegated or Shared Mailbox's Contacts is different than it was in Classic Gmail.

The Stony Brook Directory, email addresses, and contact groups already in your Shared Mailbox Contacts will still autocomplete when you start typing in the To/Cc/Bcc fields. Also, this change will not affect Google Contacts in your individual Stony Brook account; you can still access them at contacts.google.com.

What's Different?

Delegated Mailboxes

A Delegated Mailbox is another person's first.last@stonybrook.edu account s/he's delegated to you. In new Gmail, you can't access full Contacts* directly through the delegated email account. However, delegated mail account owners can delegate their contacts to you. You would then access the delegated contacts with your contacts at contacts.google.com. Learn more about delegating contacts

Shared Mailboxes

For Contacts in Shared Mailboxes, you cannot access the full contacts and thus cannot edit a contact’s phone number or email address; change a contact group; or view a contact’s phone number, address, or notes, for example. Find out which Shared Mailboxes you're an Administrator for.

Use Contacts in a Shared or Delegated Mailbox in New Gmail

You can use the email addresses in your Shared or Delegated Mailbox when you compose/reply to emails in new Gmail a few ways:

  1. Auto-complete:
    1. Start typing in the To/Cc/Bcc field on an email and email addresses will auto-complete from the Stony Brook University Directory and also from your Shared/Delegated Mailbox Contacts
  2. Contact Picker:
    1. Click To, Cc, or Bcc to open the contact picker
      click To, CC, or BCC to open contact picker when composing or replying to an email
    2. In the contact picker, you can search and select and create groups with contacts
      contact picker with contacts selected and new group Project ABC being created 

*The Contacts in your first.last@stonybrook.edu Google Mail Account will not be affected. Access them at contacts.google.com or by selecting Contacts from the Google app picker
Access contacts from app picker

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