Grant Mail Delegate Access to a Gmail Account


You can grant someone mail delegate access in Gmail to allow others to read and send mail on your behalf without needing to log into your account. For Google generic accounts, it is strongly recommended to set up mail delegation for every person involved, including the account's service contacts. 

What a Mail Delegate Can Do

Delegates can:

Delegates can't:

How to Delegate Access

Note that you can only grant mail delegate access to Google accounts in the NCSU domain.

  1. On your computer, go to the Gmail site. You can't add delegates from the Gmail app.
  2. Make sure that you are directly signed into the account that you want to grant delegate access to.
    • If it says Delegated next to the account, then you are only viewing it with delegate access and are not signed in. You will need to directly sign into the account instead of accessing it as a delegate.
    • If you are trying to delegate access to a generic account, you can sign in by adding it as another account in Gmail.
  3. In the upper-right corner, select Settings (the cog/gear icon) > See all settings.
  4. Select the Accounts or the Accounts and Import tab.
  5. In the Grant access to your account section, select Add another account.
    • You may be prompted to verify your account by signing in again or using Google 2-Step.
  6. Enter the email address of the person that you want to add.
  7. Select Next Step >>.
  8. Select Send email to grant access.

The person that you added will get a confirmation email. The confirmation email expires after one week, so they will need to confirm before then.

How to Access a Delegated Gmail Account

After being added as a mail delegate, you can access the delegated account in Gmail. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for the delegated inbox to become available after confirming delegate access in the confirmation email.

  1. Log into Gmail with your NCSU Gmail address.
  2. Select the icon with your profile picture or initial in the upper-right corner of the page.
  3. Select the delegated account that you want to access. It should say Delegated next to the account.

A new tab or window will open with the inbox for the selected delegated account.

How to Remove a Mail Delegate

You can revoke mail delegate access at any time.

  1. On your computer, go to the Gmail site. You can't remove delegates from the Gmail app.
  2. Make sure that you are directly signed into the account that you want to revoke delegate access for.
    • If it says Delegated next to the account, then you are only viewing it with delegate access and are not signed in. You will need to directly sign into the account instead of accessing it as a delegate.
    • If you are trying to delegate access to a generic account, you can sign in by adding it as another account in Gmail.
  3. In the upper-right corner, select Settings > See all settings.
  4. Select the Accounts or the Accounts and Import tab.
  5. In the Grant access to your account section, select delete next to the email that you want to revoke access for.
  6. Refresh the page.