How to Use Outlook on Multiple Computers
By Maureen Cutajar
Having Outlook configured on multiple computers to check your email from the office and home seems like the ideal situation. However, you'll soon realize its drawbacks when your Outlook information is scattered among different machines. When using default settings for your POP3 email account, downloading an email from one computer means that you can't access it from your second computer. This proves to be a headache when you need to find a particular email but can't remember on which computer you downloaded it. All isn't lost, since there are several ways to merge your Outlook information on multiple computers.
Change POP3 Settings
Step 1
Open Outlook. Click the "Tools" menu, and click "E-mail accounts."
Step 2
Click "View or change existing email accounts" and click "Next."
Step 3
Click your default POP3 email account and click "Change."
Step 4
Click "More Settings" and click the "Advanced" tab.
Step 5
Locate the "Delivery" options and click the option to "Leave a copy of messages on the server" and specify a number of days. Your POP3 account will now download messages without deleting them from the POP3 server. Repeat the steps on the other computers configured to use the POP3 account.
Copy Personal Files Folder
Step 1
Click the "File" menu and click "Data File Management" to find your PST folder. Outlook stores the emails downloaded on your machine in a PST file. Copying this file on multiple computers gives you access to all your emails.
Step 2
Click your data file from the "Outlook Data Files" window and click on "Open Folder."
Step 3
Close Outlook and open the folder that contains your PST file.
Step 4
Right-click on the file and click "Send To," "Removable Disk" to copy your PST file to your preferred removable storage device.
Step 5
Open Outlook on your second computer and click the "File Menu," "Open," and click on "Outlook Data File."
Step 6
Select your PST file from your removable storage device and it will be added in your Outlook "Mail Folders" granting you access to all of your emails.
Tips
- These options are not necessary if you're using a Microsoft exchange server, an IMAP account, or an online email service such as Hotmail and Gmail.
Warnings
- The PST file can become too large to copy on a CD or flash drive if you retain a large amount of email in your mailbox.
Writer Bio
Maureen Cutajar started her writing career in 2009. An information-technology project manager, she shares her knowledge in computing and business management. Cutajar holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Malta, as well as an advanced diploma in computer studies from NCC Education.