How to Save Sent Items in Shared Mailbox Office 365 Without Losing Data

Published By Mohit Kumar Jha

Approved By Admin

Published On July 21st, 2025

Reading Time 4 Minutes Reading

If emails sent from your Office 365 shared mailbox aren’t showing up in its Sent Items folder, then don’t worry. By default, Microsoft 365 doesn’t save these messages in the shared mailbox. That’s why it is necessary to know how to save sent items in shared mailbox Office 365. Here I will guide you through the same with clear step-by-step instructions.

Without any further delay, let’s explore why it doesn’t save automatically!

Why Sent Items Don’t Save by Default in Shared Mailboxes?

According to Microsoft’s official documentation on shared mailboxes, messages sent from shared mailboxes aren’t saved there.

By default, when you send a message from a shared mailbox, even though you’re using the shared email address, Office 365 saves that message in the “Sent Items” folder of the sender’s mailbox, not in the shared mailbox. That’s frustrating for those who rely on visibility into shared communication.

Who Can Fix This?

To apply these settings, you need to be a:

• Global Administrator, or
• Exchange Administrator in Microsoft 365

If you have the required admin credentials, then go through the next sections to learn how to save items. 

How to Save Sent Items in Shared Mailbox Office 365 Step by Step

I found that Admin Center and PowerShell will help to save sent items directly in the shared mailbox. Here’s how: 

Method 1. Use Microsoft 365 Admin Center

This is the method I prefer for small teams. This is free and easy to use for any skill level user.

1. Log in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
2. Open Exchange Admin Center:
   • Click Show All > Exchange under Admin centers.
3. Press the Recipients option, and then Shared.
4. Select the shared mailbox to edit.
5. Click on the Sent items tab.
6. Two checkbox prompts:
   • Save copies of messages sent to this mailbox
   • Save copies of messages sent on behalf of this mailbox
7. Check both boxes, and click Save.

From now on, your sent data will be directly saved in the Microsoft 365 shared mailbox. 

Method 2. Save Sent Items in Shared Mailbox Office 365 PowerShell

I tested all these commands below, as mentioned in Microsoft’s Set-Mailbox guide, and all are working correctly. Just remember one thing: PowerShell is a technical method and can be complex for naive users.

1. Open PowerShell as an administrator and connect to Exchange Online:
   Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName sharepointadmin@domain.com
2. Run the following commands to enable sent items:
   
   Set-Mailbox “<SharedMailboxName>” -MessageCopyForSentAsEnabled $true

Set-Mailbox “<SharedMailboxName>” -MessageCopyForSendOnBehalfEnabled $true

1. Disconnect when done:
   Disconnect-ExchangeOnline

If you have more than one shared mailbox to update, run these:

$sharedMailboxes = @(“support@domain.com”, “info@domain.com”, “sales@domain.com”)

foreach ($mailbox in $sharedMailboxes) {

    Set-Mailbox $mailbox -MessageCopyForSentAsEnabled $true

    Set-Mailbox $mailbox -MessageCopyForSendOnBehalfEnabled $true

}

How to Verify It’s Working

After applying the changes, I always send a test email from the shared mailbox and check:

• My personal mailbox’s Sent Items folder
• The shared mailbox’s Sent Items folder should now contain a copy of the sent message

Backing Up Sent Items from Shared Mailboxes

Even with these settings in place to save sent items in shared mailbox Office 365, I always take an extra step: backing up the sent items from shared mailboxes. This is helpful in accidental deletions, audits, or offline access scenarios. 

I use the SysTools Office 365 Backup Software because it:

• Back up shared mailboxes along with user mailboxes
• Export only specific folders like Sent Items
• Save data locally in PST
• Keep secure offline copies for retention

This tool has been extremely useful when you need a full backup or when preparing for Office 365 tenant to tenant migration.

Author’s Verdict

Saving sent items in shared mailboxes is essential for transparency and management of data. I always configure this as part of my shared mailbox setup checklist. Now, you also have the proper knowledge of how to save sent items in shared mailbox Office 365 PowerShell and Admin Center step by step.