How to Delegate Gmail Access (Let Someone Read and Send From Your Inbox) 2026

Gmail delegation lets up to 10 people read and send email from your inbox without knowing your password. Add a delegate in Settings → Accounts → "Add another account" under Grant access to your account. The delegate then opens your inbox from their own Gmail account by clicking their profile picture → your email address. Delegated email shows "sent by" the delegate's address so recipients see who actually sent it. Delegation works on web only — there is no Gmail delegation feature in the iPhone or Android apps.

This guide covers exactly how to set up Gmail delegation, what delegates can and cannot do, the differences between delegation and a shared inbox, and when to move beyond delegation for team email.

What is Gmail delegation?

Gmail delegation is a feature that lets you grant another Gmail user permission to access your inbox. The delegate can:

Read every email in your inbox
Send and reply on your behalf (with a "sent by" footer)
Manage your labels, archive, and delete
Open your inbox directly from their own Gmail account

What delegates cannot do:

Change your password or account settings
Use Gmail chat on your behalf
Access your inbox from the Gmail mobile apps
See your contacts (unless explicitly shared)

Delegation is the standard solution for executive assistants who manage email for an executive, or for one person covering another's inbox during a leave. It is not designed for team-wide shared mailboxes — Google Workspace shared mailboxes and dedicated shared inbox tools handle that case better.

How to delegate Gmail access (step-by-step)

The setup happens on the account that is being delegated (the inbox you want to share), not the delegate's account.

Open Gmail in a browser. Make sure you are signed in to the account you want to delegate.
Click the gear icon (top-right) → See all settings.
Click the Accounts and Import tab (or Accounts in Google Workspace).
Scroll to Grant access to your account.
Click Add another account.
Enter the delegate's Gmail address. They must have a Google account.
Click Next step → Send email to grant access.
Google sends the delegate a confirmation email with an access link.
The delegate clicks the link in their email and confirms within one week.

Once confirmed, the delegate can open your inbox from their own Gmail account by clicking their profile picture (top-right) and selecting your email address from the dropdown.

The setup typically takes 5 minutes plus however long the delegate takes to accept the invitation.

Important: enable "Conversation view" for delegated accounts

By default, delegated accounts sometimes display in non-conversation view, which makes long threads harder to manage. Have the delegate enable conversation view from their own Gmail settings (it carries over to delegated accounts).

When a delegate sends email from your inbox, Gmail adds a footer to the message:

Sent by [[email protected]]

This is built in and cannot be removed. Recipients see both the From address (yours) and the actual sender's address. This is intentional — it makes delegated email transparent.

You can choose between two options in the delegation settings:

Mark conversation as read when opened by others — the delegate marks emails as read just like you would.
Leave conversation unread when opened by others — the delegate can review without marking as read, so you still see unread counts when you log in.

Toggle this from the same Grant access to your account section in Settings.

How to remove a Gmail delegate

When the working relationship changes (employee leaves, assistant rotates, project ends), remove the delegate immediately.

Open Gmail in a browser.
Click gear icon → See all settings.
Go to Accounts and Import → Grant access to your account.
Find the delegate's email in the list.
Click delete.

Removal is immediate. The delegate loses access to your inbox the moment you click delete — no waiting period.

Gmail delegation limits

There are several hard limits worth knowing:

Limit	Value
Maximum delegates per account	10
Time for delegate to accept invitation	7 days (then expires)
Mobile app delegation support (iPhone/Android)	None — web only
Domain restriction (Google Workspace)	Same domain only, by default
Can delegate read your sent emails	Yes, full Sent folder access
Can delegate access Drive/Calendar	No, Gmail only
Chat / video access via delegation	No

Workspace admin note: In Google Workspace, an administrator can enable cross-domain delegation in the Admin console under Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail → User settings → Mail delegation. By default, delegation is restricted to the same domain.

How to delegate Gmail access on iPhone or Android

The short answer: you can't. The Gmail iPhone and Android apps do not support delegation. A delegate cannot open your inbox from the mobile app.

Workarounds delegates use on mobile:

Browser: Open Gmail in Safari or Chrome on the phone, switch to your delegated account via the profile dropdown. This works but the mobile browser experience is clunky compared to the app.
Separate work device: Many executive assistants carry a tablet or laptop specifically for managing delegated accounts.
Skip mobile: For most delegation use cases (executive assistant during business hours), web-only access is enough.

If mobile delegation is a hard requirement, delegation is not the right tool — a shared inbox application gives every team member mobile and web access without password sharing.

Gmail delegation vs Google Workspace collaborative inbox

These two features are often confused but solve different problems.

Capability	Gmail Delegation	Collaborative Inbox (Group)
Inbox style	Personal inbox shared	Group address (e.g. support@)
Maximum users	10 delegates	Unlimited members
Assignment / ownership tracking	No	Basic (mark as resolved)
Mobile app support	No	No (browser only)
"Sent by" footer	Yes (always)	No
Setup location	User's Gmail settings	Google Groups admin
Best for	Executive assistant scenarios	Department-wide group email

Delegation is for "this is my inbox, you can read and respond on my behalf." Collaborative inbox is for "this is our team's address, anyone can pick up an email."

If you're considering a Google Workspace group inbox specifically, see our guide on how to create a shared mailbox in Google Workspace — the trade-offs apply to delegation as well when you outgrow what Gmail offers natively.

When Gmail delegation breaks down

Delegation works well for 1-on-1 scenarios. It breaks down when:

1. More than two people need access to the same inbox. Two assistants covering the same executive's inbox can both reply to the same email at once. There is no assignment system to prevent double-replies.

2. You need to track who replied to what. Delegation has no audit trail of who handled which email beyond the "sent by" footer on outgoing email. There is no view of "all emails handled by Alice this week."

3. The shared address needs to look generic. Customers seeing "[email protected] — sent by [email protected]" expect to be replying to you, not Alice. That confuses customers when the relationship is supposed to be with a generic team address.

4. You need to respond from a mobile device. Delegation is web-only.

5. The team grows beyond 10 people. Hard cap of 10 delegates per inbox.

These cases call for a dedicated shared inbox tool — assignment, internal notes, no "sent by" footer, mobile apps, and unlimited team members. The friction of password sharing or hitting the delegate cap typically tips a growing team into a shared inbox within 6-12 months.

Gmail delegation: common problems and fixes

"Add another account" link not showing

Two common causes:

You're on a personal Gmail and your Workspace admin has restricted delegation. Some Workspace admins disable delegation organisation-wide. Contact your admin.
You're inside a delegated account, not your own. Delegation can only be set up from the inbox owner's account, not from a delegate session.

Delegate cannot see new emails

Make sure the delegate is refreshing the page or has set Gmail to auto-refresh. Sometimes the delegated view shows a cached snapshot. Switching away and back to the delegated account usually pulls fresh data.

It cannot be. This is by Google's design and intentional. If the footer is a problem (e.g. for customer-facing email), delegation is not the right tool — a shared inbox without the footer is.

Delegate confirmation email never arrived

Check the delegate's Spam folder. The confirmation email from Google sometimes lands there. If the email expired (7-day limit), repeat the invitation.

Mobile delegation not working

It does not work — Gmail does not support delegation in the iPhone or Android apps. There is no workaround beyond using the mobile browser.

How to give someone temporary Gmail access (vacation cover)

A common use case for delegation: you're going on holiday and a colleague needs to monitor your inbox while you're away.

The setup:

Two weeks before leaving: Add the colleague as a delegate using the steps above.
Test it together: Have the colleague open your inbox from their account before you leave, so any issues surface early.
Set up Gmail's vacation responder with a note that your colleague is covering urgent items: "If urgent, please email Alice at [email protected]."
When you return: Go to Settings → Accounts and Import → Grant access → Delete the colleague.

This is cleaner than sharing your password and lets you remove access immediately on return. The "sent by" footer also means recipients understand that responses during your absence come from a covering colleague, not you.

Frequently asked questions

How do I delegate Gmail access to someone?

In Gmail web, click the gear icon → See all settings → Accounts and Import → scroll to Grant access to your account → click Add another account. Enter the delegate's Gmail address, send the invitation, and have them confirm via the email Google sends them. Delegation is web-only — there is no equivalent in the iPhone or Android apps.

Can I delegate Gmail access to multiple people?

Yes, up to 10 delegates per account. Each delegate can independently open your inbox from their own Gmail account. All of them can read and send simultaneously, which is the main reason delegation breaks down for teams larger than two — there is no assignment system to prevent double-replies.

Does the recipient know if email was sent by a delegate?

Yes. Gmail automatically adds a "Sent by [[email protected]]" footer to any email sent through delegation. This cannot be removed. Recipients see both your From address and the actual sender's email. For customer-facing email where the footer is a problem, use a dedicated shared inbox tool instead.

Can I delegate Gmail access on iPhone?

No. Gmail delegation does not work in the iPhone Gmail app. Delegates can only access delegated inboxes through the Gmail web interface in a browser (Safari or Chrome on the phone, or any desktop browser). This is a hard limitation of the mobile app — there is no setting to enable.

Is Gmail delegation the same as a shared inbox?

No. Delegation is a way to grant up to 10 people access to one person's individual inbox. A shared inbox is a separate inbox owned by the team where each email is treated as a ticket, assigned to one person, and tracked through to resolution. Delegation lacks assignment, internal notes, audit trails, and mobile support.

How many people can I delegate Gmail to?

Maximum 10 delegates per Gmail account. For more than 10 people to share access, you need a different tool — typically a Google Workspace collaborative inbox (Google Group with collaborative settings) or a dedicated shared inbox application.

Can I delegate Google Workspace email cross-domain?

By default, no. Google Workspace restricts delegation to users in the same domain. A Workspace administrator can enable cross-domain delegation in the Admin console under Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail → User settings → Mail delegation. Most organisations leave the default in place for security reasons.

Why is my delegate not receiving the confirmation email?

Check their Spam folder first — Google's delegation confirmation emails sometimes get filtered. If the email expired (delegates have 7 days to accept), repeat the invitation from your settings. If neither works, verify the delegate's Gmail address is correct.

Can a delegate change my password?

No. Delegates have read and send access to your inbox only. They cannot change your password, edit your account settings, access Drive or Calendar, or use Google Chat on your behalf. The scope of delegation is strictly limited to Gmail inbox operations.

When to move beyond delegation

Delegation is a good fit for executive assistant arrangements, vacation cover, and small teams sharing one personal inbox. Once your needs grow beyond that — multiple people answering customer email, assignment and tracking, mobile access, removing the "sent by" footer — delegation stops being the right tool.

A shared inbox tool like SupportBee gives every team member their own login while collaborating in one shared workspace. Email looks like it comes from the team address (no "sent by" footer), each email is assigned to one person, you can leave internal notes for teammates, and the mobile app works the same as the web. Start a free 14-day trial to see how a shared inbox handles what Gmail delegation cannot.

For broader Gmail collaboration patterns before you migrate, see our guides on creating rules and filters, organising your Gmail inbox, setting up a vacation responder, and creating a Gmail distribution list for one-to-many sending where delegation alone is not the right tool.