How to set up a separate Outlook mailbox outside Exchange

January 22, 2018 5:23 AM

Is there any way to set up a non-Exchange Outlook mailbox and be able to use and store personal mail on my work computer? We use Exchange and I'd like to avoid having personal mail on the company server, but still be able to use Outlook.
posted by Gnella to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Outlook supports pop/map accounts and multiple inboxes. Files would be on your machine but not server. Setting is under file, account settings button, add new account. You will need imap/pop settings from your domain/gmail etc. Pretty straightforward fill in the blanks kind of thing.
posted by chasles at 5:44 AM on January 22, 2018

Response by poster: Was not sure that would work & keep it off server - I can do this - Thank you!
posted by Gnella at 5:54 AM on January 22, 2018

Be aware that there's probably no real practical difference between what you were trying to avoid (your personal mail on the company server) and what this will accomplish (your personal mail on the company laptop).
posted by uberchet at 6:15 AM on January 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

Do you know how your company backs-up their Outlook Exchange emails? It's possible that they'd already have a copy of your personal email before you pulled it off the system. It also depends on how they monitor, back-up, and store the files on networked computers. If it's really something you don't want them to have copies of, using a non-work email on a non-work machine/device is the only way.
posted by quince at 7:37 AM on January 22, 2018

Response by poster: Personal mail stored on co. laptop is not a problem - it's non-networked except for exchange. I'm in charge of backing up my own laptop files and purging if needed. My concern is less privacy anyway than the large volume of my personal emails. Thanks all for your help!
posted by Gnella at 8:19 AM on January 22, 2018

Personal mail stored on co. laptop is not a problem - it's non-networked except for exchange.

I've done exchange administration for ~15 years. Nthing what Quince said above.

Depending on how exchange (and a few other things, but still) is configured, the local files will be backed up to the server - and accessible to anyone who can see them. Domain login, local network, etc. are not required. This would be invisible to the end user, depending on the method(s) chosen.

You cannot say with confidence that your employer does not have access - even if you could, you cannot guarantee that things won't change and they will grant themselves access at some point in the future.

I *strongly* advise against using your company outlook for personal emails. Just don't do it.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:41 AM on January 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I know you've addressed this, but keep in mind that any data stored on a company laptop is by definition theirs. That's not to say they would take anything from you, but you have no expectation of privacy if you store your personal data on their technology.

One other thing to keep in mind is that some companies block outgoing mail, except from their email server, in an effort to prevent spam. Practically speaking, this may mean that you can receive mail to a personal account, but you may not be able to send. Once you set this up, be sure to test it.
posted by cnc at 9:49 AM on January 22, 2018

Alternatively you could setup a parallel mail client (like emClient or Thunderbird) and fully setup a wall between the two ecosystems. It doesn't solve the problem of local files but as you've mentioned that may not be a concern for you.
posted by msbutah at 12:46 PM on January 22, 2018