How can I sync Mac Outlook 2011 on two computers?
June 2, 2014 6:16 PM   Subscribe

I set up my work Outlook for Mac 2011 Exchange account on my work computer today and now the identical set-up on my home computer is no longer working. Help!

I've had my work Exchange account set up in the Outlook for Mac 2011 application on my home computer for awhile, and have been accessing email when in the office via the webmail interface. Today, I set up my mail account in the desktop Outlook for Mac 2011 application on my work computer (while at work). I was able to download my email while at work fine. And, mail is still syncing to my iPhone no matter where I am (on the office wifi, via home wifi or via 3G cell). However, when I got home this evening and launched my home computer Outlook install, I cannot sync/download any of my email, calendar or other information; the Progress box has been "Updating local..." for the past 30 minutes.

I've used the exact same settings on both computers, with one difference (server info is different for home since I'm outside the office network). I've double-checked that my home settings didn't somehow mysteriously get updated with my office info. I've shut down/restarted multiple times. I know my company keeps all of our email on the server forever (and I can see it via the webmail interface) so I know it's still there - my home Outlook just can't get it.

Anyone have any ideas what might be going on or how I might fix? Thanks!
posted by hapax_legomenon to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)
 
Best answer: I'm going to guess that the home computer might be connecting via IMAP. I think you'll end up with two copies of everything, one in the pst file, and one in standard IMAP mail boxes. It's not the end of the world, just a pain in the ass. IMAP could just be hung up trying to resync everything after the work PC touched everything and made it look new.

Just a guess...
posted by COD at 7:14 PM on June 2, 2014


Response by poster: For posterity's sake, I'll report back in on what happened. My home PC did finally resync/download all my mail, although it was an act of faith to let it to do so: the little blue candy cane progress indicator at the bottom right of the mail window twirled for about four hours with no new mail showing up - at which point I closed my laptop for awhile. When I opened my laptop again a few hours later, all my new mail was there! So I guess something like what COD describes above must've happened.

What threw me off was that the sync process (rolling candy cane bar) looked nothing like the original download of mail when I first installed Outlook (progress bar actually, well, showing progress including number of mail items downloaded vs. number left, e.g., 1045/21334).

So anyway, all's well that ends well and keep the faith my fellow Outlook for Mac 2011 users. We will persevere! Etc.

Need coffee.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 7:58 AM on June 5, 2014


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