The profile creation process is almost identical for all versions of Outlook with only minor differences between Outlook versions. The following video runs through a quick overview using Outlook ‘2016 followed by the differences in previous Outlook versions summarizing the content of this post
There are any number of reasons that you may be creating an Outlook profile. The most common and most obvious is when you are configuring Outlook for the first time on a new machine, whether you’re a first time Outlook user or migrating from another system. The most common other reason is that you’ve encountered a problem and are told to re-create your profile to eliminate a corrupt profile potentially being the cause of any problems being encountered. Some notes to keep in mind for different types of scenarios
For those using Outlook.com for their email
Outlook.com is being migrated to the Office ‘365 backend Exchange servers which is currently an on-going process being completed in waves. When accessing your Outlook.com account via webmail (your browser) – if you see <Outlook Mail (Preview)>, then you’re account has been migrated and will be to be reconfigured according to the version of Outlook in use. For those using earlier versions of Outlook (‘2010 or earlier), you will need to have the Outlook Hotmail Connector installed. Starting with Outlook ‘2013, all you’ll need is your email address and password and your account will be configured using Exchange ActiveSync. Once an account has been migrated, it will be configured using the Exchange protocol regardless of Outlook version in use.
First time users
Make sure that you have your email account information from your email service provider handy before you start.
For those migrating from one computer to another
- Make sure you do the following
- Note down all email account settings (server names, port numbers, encryption)
- Note all data files being used – see <Finding/Selecting the right Outlook data files>
The above applies regardless of whether you are migrating from an older version of Outlook to a newer version or from the same version on both computers. For those using POP accounts should remember that POP accounts must be “manually” configured instead of using “Auto-Discover” where you only enter your email address or password.
People using an Imap account with an earlier version of Outlook (‘2010 or earlier) should also become familiar with the difference of how Imap data is stored in Outlook ‘2013+ particularly in terms of contact/calendar data. See <How to protect your Outlook Imap contacts>
For those using a local Exchange Server
- Support for EX ‘2007 stopped with Outlook ‘2013 so you won’t be able to use Outlook ‘2016
- You can no longer manually configure an Exchange account in Outlook ‘2016. The only option is to use <Auto-Discover>
For those upgrading Outlook on the same system
Nothing needs to be done. Outlook will use the profile information that already exists making whatever changes accordingly
For those who simply want to start over from scratch as if Outlook was never previously configured
For 99.99% of the people, this simply means creating a new Outlook profile from scratch and configuring the email accounts. “Sarting over” does not mean making a copy of an existing Outlook profile and then making changes to it since if whatever profile you copy is corrupt, those problems will continue to exist.