Configuring Outlook for Multiple Users
A single copy of Outlook on a computer can be configured to handle multiple users of
that computer. This becomes necessary when more than one staff person share the same
computer (e.g., part-time staff, staff that work in multiple offices). Outlook supports multiple
users through a mechanism known as “Profiles.” A default Profile is created automatically
when Outlook is first configured for e-mail usage. An additional Profile must be created for
each added user of the computer. Each Profile allows the user’s individual settings and
information (e.g., signatures, e-mail messages, contacts, etc.) to be kept separate from other
users. Once added Profiles have been created and Outlook configured to handle them,
whenever Outlook is started the user is prompted for which Profile to use.
The following instructions guide you through the process of configuring Outlook to
handle more than one user. There are two basic steps to this process: 1) set Outlook itself to
handle multiple Profiles, and 2) create a new Profile, including the e-mail settings for the Profile.
Set Outlook for Multiple Profiles
Normally, Outlook will be configured to use a single Profile. To have it prompt for the
desired Profile at startup, follow these steps:
1.
Start Outlook and go to the Tools | Options menu. This should present a screen like this:
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2.
Go to the Mail Services tab.
This tab looks something like this:
Click the button to “Prompt for a profile
to be used” and then click the “Apply”
button at the bottom of the form. This
change will cause the Profile selection
dialog to be shown whenever Outlook is
started.
Exit Outlook (click “OK” on the Options
dialog shown at left and then exit Outlook
as normal) before creating a new Profile
as described below.
Creating a New Profile for Outlook
A new Profile can best be created using the “Mail” applet in the Windows Control Panel.
1.
Open the Control Panel (Start | Settings | Control Panel or open “My Computer” and
double click the Control Panel icon. Double click the “Mail” applet once the Control
Panel is open. This should present a dialog like this:
Click the “Show Profiles...” button.
This should present a dialog similar to the
one at the top of the next page.
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You may only have one profile listed here or
you may have several. If you already have
several, you might want to remove some or
edit them so that there are not too many
profiles on a given machine. (Extra profiles
may only serve to confuse users.)
To create a new profile, click the “Add...”
button. This should begin the “Inbox Setup
Wizard” as illustrated below.
The list of services may be different
than shown at left but you should at
least have Microsoft Exchange
Server and Internet E-mail.
Check the box for Internet E-mail
and then click the Next button. You
will next be asked to name this
profile– use the name of the user.
Next you will be prompted to setup
an Internet e-mail account. (The
dialogs for this are the same as if you
were configuring an e-mail account
from within Outlook.)
IMPORTANT: After setting up the e-mail account (“service”), you will be prompted for the
path to the Personal Folder (see top of next page). Each account should have its own Personal
Folder or else users will see each other’s mail and other Outlook objects. So on the dialog
shown at the top of the next page, change the name of the Personal Folder to the account name.
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Change “mailbox.pst” here to
“<account>.pst” (for example,
if the user’s e-mail address is
[email protected], use
“devans.pst” here (be sure to
include the full path).
If this setting is not set for
each user and instead several
users have the same Personal
Folder (such as “mailbox.pst”),
they will end up seeing each
other’s mail and such things as
their Outlook calendar and
contact list.
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