Addresses like info@, sales@ or support@ are usually handled by more than one person. cPanel email does not have built-in "shared mailboxes" like Microsoft 365, but you can achieve the same in three ways. Pick the one that fits the size of your team and how you work.
Before you start
- Personal mailboxes for each team member, created in Email Accounts.
- Decide whether replies must come from the shared address, and whether you need to see who answered what.
Option 1: forward to each person
Best for two or three people who each want the mail in their own inbox.
- Open cPanel → Email → Forwarders → Add Forwarder.
- Address to forward:
sales@ your domain. Destination: the first person's address. Save. - Repeat with the same address for each colleague. See forwarders.
To reply as sales@, each person adds an identity: in Roundcube Settings → Identities → Create with sales@example.com (see identities); in Outlook or Thunderbird add it as an alias identity using their own SMTP login.
Downside: nobody sees whether someone else already answered.
Option 2: one shared mailbox
Best for small teams who want one common inbox with folders.
- Create a real mailbox
sales@example.comwith a generous quota. - Give the password to each team member (store it in a shared password manager).
- Everyone adds it as an extra IMAP account in their email app (settings). Because IMAP syncs read status and folders, everyone sees what was read, moved or flagged.
- Agree on a routine: move handled mail to a
Donefolder, or flag messages you are working on.
Warning: All devices must use IMAP. One POP3 device can download and delete everything, so others never see it. When someone leaves the team, change the shared password; see offboarding.
Option 3: a helpdesk
Best when you handle many customer requests and need assignment, status and history. A helpdesk such as osTicket fetches mail from support@ and turns each message into a ticket. See set up osTicket with Softaculous.
Comparison
| Forwarders | Shared mailbox | Helpdesk | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup effort | Very low | Low | Medium |
| See who answered | No | Partly (read/flags) | Yes |
| Separate logins per person | Yes | No (shared password) | Yes |
| Good for | 2–3 people | Small teams | Support teams |
Troubleshooting
- Replies from sales@ land in spam: send through your own domain's SMTP, never via an external provider's address; see deliverability.
- Forwarded copies to Gmail rejected: forwarding spam to external providers hurts reputation; enable spam filtering first.
- Shared mailbox full: see fix a full mailbox.