How to configure a send only mailbox by Bas Wijdenes

Send only mailbox, the basics.

Nowadays a send only mailbox usually occurs in Exchange. This can be  Exchange Online (Office 365), but also Exchange On-Premise. The first method is about creating a Send Only Mailbox in Exchange.

It’s also possible that you’re using other mail applications such as Google Apps. Unfortunately my knowledge does not extend so far to know if you can create rules within the G Suite Admin Console. The second method is about configuring a Send Only Mailbox in Outlook itself.

A send-only mailbox can be useful if you want multiple users to work from one address that only send mails. This can for example be a no-reply address.


Method 1 – Create a send only mailbox in Exchange.

In method 1 I explain how you can create a send only mailbox. Most users will call this a no-reply mailbox or something similar.

I assume that you are an IT engineer and therefore already know how to get to the rules within the Exchange platform.

  • Create the mailbox in the regular way.
  • Go to Exchange and open the rules. You can open this link for Exchange Online.
  • Click on the +> Create a new rule
  • Open More options…
  • Name the rule whatever you like. I’ll call it Send-Online-Mailbox
  • Select Apply this rule if the recipient is…
  • Select Block the message..
    Here we can choose what we want to do with the received mail. If it is a no-reply email you could send back an answer that it is an unread mailbox or something similar.
    I choose delete the message without notifying anyone.

     

No-Reply send only mailbox
No-Reply send only mailbox.
  • Use the default settings for the rest.
  • Click Save.
  • Below is the entire rule for clarification:
No-Reply send only mailbox
No-Reply send only mailbox.

Now all you have to do is give users permissions to the mailbox and open them in Outlook or OWA. From now on users can only send e-mails and no longer receive them. For these mailboxes it is useful to add an extra disclaimer so that the recipient knows that this is a no-reply address.


Method 2 – Configure a send only mailbox in Outlook.

If you use a different mail application than Exchange, for example G-Suite or use a mailbox in cPanel or something similar, you can also configure a send only mailbox directly in Outlook.

The steps that we configure here are unfortunately adaptable unless you implement this via a Group Policy. I have not done this myself before through a Group Policy.

  • Go to Control Panel and search for Mail.
  • Click Add
  • Select Manual setup or additional server types.
  • Click Next >.
  • Select POP.
  • fill in your name, e-mail, and credentials and select POP3.
  • Fill in an incorrect incoming mail server.
  • Use the correct Outgoing mail server (SMTP).
  • As an example, for gmail it’s smtp.gmail.com.
  • Fill in your email address and password.
  • Uncheck Automatically test account settings when Next is clicked.
No-Reply send only mailbox.
  • Click Next
  • Click Finish
  • Start Outlook
  • Press CTRL + ALT + S on your keyboard
  • Click Edit
No-Reply send only mailbox.
  • Uncheck Receive mail items
No-Reply send only mailbox.
  • Click OK

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Bas Wijdenes

My name is Bas Wijdenes and I work as a PowerShell DevOps Engineer. In my spare time I write about interesting stuff that I encounter during my work.

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