You cannot open a shared Outlook folder from a sharing invitation that you receive from another Outlook user

In the Outlook mailbox that is located on an Exchange Server, you receive a messagefrom a user who uses Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 that is connected to Exchange Server. The message invites you to view one of the user’s shared Outlook folders. However, the message does not have an option that enables you to access the shared Outlook folder. In this case, you cannot open the shared Outlook folder that the user shared to you.

This behavior occurs if the sender of the sharing invitation is running Outlook 2007 and the recipient of the sharing invitation is running anearlier version of Outlook 2007.

You can use one of the following two methods to work around this problem without having to upgrade the Outlook or change the version of Outlook.

• If you are invited to view any of the following default Outlook folders, use Method 1: Open default Outlook folders:
  • Calendar
  • Contacts
  • Inbox
  • Journal
  • Notes
  • Tasks
• If you are invited to view a folder that is not the default Outlook folder, use Method 2: Open nondefault Outlook folders.

Method 1: Open default Outlook folders

If you are invited to view a default Outlook folder, the words "Microsoft Exchange" will appear before the name of the folder in the sharing invitation. For example, if the sender shares the Contacts folder, the name of the folder is "Microsoft Exchange Contacts" in the sharing invitation.

To open a default Outlook folder, follow these steps:

1. In the sharing invitation, notice the name of the Outlook folder that you want to view.
2. On the File menu, point to Open, and then click Other User's Folder.
3. In the Open Other User's Folder dialog box, type the name of the user who owns the folder in the Name box, click the name of the Outlook folder that you noticed in step 1 in the Folder type box, and then click OK.
   
   You will notice that the shared Outlook folder appears in the Outlook folder list pane.

If you receive an error message or cannot open the shared folder after you follow these steps, contact the sender of the sharing invitation to make sure that you have at least the Reviewer permissions to the shared mailbox on the Exchange Server.

To give you the Reviewer permissions to the shared mailbox, the owner of the shared folder can follow these steps:

1. In Outlook 2007, right-click Mailbox - UserName, and then click Change Sharing Permissions.
2. Click the Permissions tab, and then click Add.
3. In the Add Users dialog box, specify the user who you want to share the folder to, click Add, and then click OK.
4. In the Name list, click the name of the user who you added, click Reviewer in the Permission Level box, and then click OK.

Method 2: Open nondefault Outlook folders

You can viewthe nondefault Outlook folders just as easily as you can view the default Outlook folders. If you are invited to view a nondefault folder, the words "Microsoft Exchange" will not appear before the folder name in the sharing invitation.

To open a nondefault Outlook folder, follow these steps:

1. In Outlook, click E-mail Accounts on the Tools menu.
2. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, click View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
3. Click your Exchange Server account, and then click Change.
4. Click More Settings.
5. In the Microsoft Exchange Server dialog box, click the Advanced tab, and then click Add.
6. In the Add Mailbox dialog box, type the name of the owner of the shared folder, and then click OK.
7. Click OK, click Next, and then click Finish.
8. In the navigation pane, expand Mailbox - UserNameOfFolderOwner, and then click the folder that the user shared to you.

If you receive an error message or cannot open the shared folder after you follow these steps, contact the sender of the sharing invitation to make sure that you have at least the Reviewer permissions to the sender’s shared mailbox on Exchange Server.

To give you the Reviewer permissions to the shared mailbox, the owner of the shared folder can follow these steps:

1. In Outlook 2007, right-click Mailbox - UserName, and then click Change Sharing Permissions.
2. Click the Permissions tab, and then click Add.
3. In the Add Users dialog box, specify the user to whom you want to share the folder, click Add, and then click OK.
4. In the Name list, click the name of the user whom you added, click Reviewer in the Permission Level box, and then click OK.

Sharing invitation messages are a new feature in Outlook 2007. This feature makes it easy to share Outlook folders to other Exchange Server users who use Outlook 2007.

Sharing invitation messages work correctly when both the owner of the shared folder and the recipient of the sharing invitation message use Outlook 2007.

For more information about sharing folders in Outlook 2007, visit the following Microsoft Web site: