How to give an assistant access to your inbox without sharing your password

Handing someone your email password is the fastest way to get help, and the worst. You can't see what they do, you can't easily take access back, and in a business that handles personal information it puts you on the wrong side of POPIA and GDPR.

Both Google and Microsoft have a better option built in: delegation. Your assistant signs in with their own account and works in yours, and you can switch it off in seconds.

Gmail and Google Workspace

In Gmail, open Settings, then See all settings, then Accounts. Under Grant access to your account, add your assistant's email address. They accept the invitation, and your inbox appears in their account.

A delegate can read, send and delete mail for you, but can't change your password or settings. Emails they send show “sent by” with their address, so your contacts can see who replied.

On Google Workspace, your administrator has to allow delegation first. If the option is missing, that's why.

Microsoft 365 and Outlook

In Microsoft 365, give your assistant delegate access, or ask your administrator to grant them Send on behalf or Full access permissions to your mailbox. Choose the lowest level that covers the work. For most inbox and diary support, Send on behalf plus calendar editing is enough.

Before you switch it on

Agree in writing what they may send without asking you first.

Decide which folders or labels are off limits.

Have them sign a confidentiality agreement.

Review access every quarter, and remove it the day the work ends.

Delegation takes about ten minutes to set up. The confidentiality agreement and the ground rules take longer, and they matter more.

The AM Office handles inbox, diary and invoicing admin for founders in South Africa, the UAE and the UK.