How do you sync Outlook?

T

Taikero

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
275
What's your favorite method of syncing Outlook between computers? I'm assuming this is fairly common; Outlook is great, and loads of people use it, and almost everyone has both a desktop and a laptop. Despite this, there doesn't seem to be a unified 'best' method for keeping Outlook synced up among devices.

Looking around, it seems as though there are countless methods of doing this, however many of them cost exorbitant amounts of money or are only marginally effective. Dropbox seems popular, and I love it for keeping my schoolwork in order, but for a large PST file, it's just too unwieldy. I can't keep Outlook open on both devices without causing duplicate files, and because of the PST's size, I have to allow my laptop several minutes to upload before I can turn on my desktop. If I used these devices entirely independently of one another, it would be fine, but that's not the case.

I've also tried cloud-based solutions, however the ones I've tried (including Google Calendar's sync utility) don't seem to preserve all of the functionality of Outlook. Tasks aren't supported by Google Calendar, and I haven't found a method like this that syncs event color-coding.

Also, I know nothing about it, but I could obtain Exchange 2010 for less than $20 through the ACM MSDNAA (I'm a student). The Outlook Web App seems neat too, though it looks like setting it up would be something of an endeavor as it's definitely not intended for the home user.

Basically, I'd love to find a way of syncing Outlook similar to the way OneNote syncs natively. Over LAN, in real time, and in the background. Syncing.net seems to do this, but it costs quite a bit more than Office 2010 itself. PSTSync as well, but it's still a little expensive for what it is, and doesn't advertise compatibility for 2010.

I'm still using Outlook 2007, though if there's an ideal (or native!) method for sync in 2010, I'm looking for an excuse to upgrade. ;)
 
Last edited:
I'm guessing you are using POP as your mail server. Much of what you're looking for is handled natively by linking Outlook to Exchange. Even setting up an iPhone or another smart mobile device is not an issue -- Exchange keeps the mailbox changes, and will update clients as they connect to get changes (ie: mail sent, received, etc.) made from other locations. OWA comes with Exchange, and has been improved a lot since OWA 2003 and earlier.

The rest of your post is a ramble on various observations and loosely connected ideas. What is the ideal scenario you are trying to achieve? Do you even have authorization to make technological decisions or implement them wherever you are at?
 
PTNL said:
I'm guessing you are using POP as your mail server. Much of what you're looking for is handled natively by linking Outlook to Exchange. Even setting up an iPhone or another smart mobile device is not an issue -- Exchange keeps the mailbox changes, and will update clients as they connect to get changes (ie: mail sent, received, etc.) made from other locations. OWA comes with Exchange, and has been improved a lot since OWA 2003 and earlier.

The rest of your post is a ramble on various observations and loosely connected ideas. What is the ideal scenario you are trying to achieve? Do you even have authorization to make technological decisions or implement them wherever you are at?
Click to expand...

Perhaps I should have been more concise. My application is a single user, home environment. I'm simply looking to sync Outlook between two (or more) computers. Thus, there is no Exchange server, and as I mentioned, I'm not sure setting one up for a single user is ideal, though I've heard of it being done and could go that route if there isn't any good alternative.

This is why I chose to ask the question here; in my searching, it seems like the perspective is largely from that of a large workplace environment. I'm looking for a simple solution for a single user. I'd just like to keep my calendars/email/tasks synced up between my desktop and laptop.

Yes, I use POP for Gmail and my own domain.
 
Trying to keep multiple POP based desktop email clients synced is just a waste of time. Yes, it can be done but lets face it. Its 2011. We have IMAP and hell... Webmail interfaces for a reason.

Outlook should be using IMAP for your Gmail account. Why anyone uses POP anymore is beyond me.

On a side note, i'm SO happy I ditched Outlook on my personal machines years ago. The Gmail web interface is worlds better.
 
I appreciate the responses from both of you. It's obvious how unfamiliar and inundated I am with all of this. I'm a student who is constantly transitioning between desktop and laptop, and am just trying to improve my workflow, especially as my collaboration with other students/research groups/professors increases. I've always liked Outlook, but perhaps I should consider just using Google's cloud-based services.

Off topic--looking around at all of Microsoft's offerings while searching for a solution has piqued my curiosity. I think it might be interesting to play around with Exchange/Server 2008/Sharepoint, etc. at home . . . maybe even put my physics major electives into a computer science emphasis. I don't want to be naive to these kinds of things forever. :eek: Thanks for opening my eyes a bit.
 
There's a lot of cool new features in Outlook 2010. It's tough to determine if any of them would be of benefit (I know the social networking connectivity is interesting). Take a look to see if you want to use it. As criccio stated, switch to IMAP for for Outlook and/or use GMail's website.
 
I've tested CodeTwo (Public Folders) and am about to buy the license for this program. Works great even with large files. Everything in the background and in real time. It supports all editions of Outlook (even Outlook 2010 64-bit). The price is OK too comparing to other solutions..

If you would like to sync categories (color-coding) between computers, there's also a freeware by CodeTwo called CatMan, i think it does exactly what you want.

Hope it helps.
 
Last edited:
POP is dead. Switch to using IMAP, and then you'll have plenty of options. I did away with all e-mail accounts aside from my own domain, and I currently use WLM 2011 on three separate computers to have access to everything I need. If you create a few Live account (don't need to use their e-mail), you can even sync calendar and contacts across all computers as well, as if you were using an Exchange setup.
 
ulrich said:
I've tested CodeTwo (Public Folders) and am about to buy the license for this program. Works great even with large files. Everything in the background and in real time. It supports all editions of Outlook (even Outlook 2010 64-bit). The price is OK too comparing to other solutions..

If you would like to sync categories (color-coding) between computers, there's also a freeware by CodeTwo called CatMan, i think it does exactly what you want.

Hope it helps.
Click to expand...

What other products are like code two public folders?
 
Taikero said:
What's your favorite method of syncing Outlook between computers? I'm assuming this is fairly common; Outlook is great, and loads of people use it, and almost everyone has both a desktop and a laptop. Despite this, there doesn't seem to be a unified 'best' method for keeping Outlook synced up among devices.
Click to expand...

Let's keep it real basic and simple. And let's put aside all this stuff about POP3 vs. IMAP. If you also have a smartphone, you add layers of complexity.

The "free" solution is a DOS-type BAT file on each system which simply copies (or moves, if you are really brave) your PST file or files from one system to the other. I have both a desktop and laptop and have using straight-up copying between systems since probably Office 2000. Works fine. Just be sure that you have Outlook closed on both systems before you do the copy operation. And you must disciplined about using Outlook on only one system at a time or you risk having "lost" emails.

By the way, I have five PST files, and this approach is flawless for me
 
That's an incredibly more complex solution than just using something meant and intended for multiple computers. The best method is to use an IMAP account. IMAP support has been greatly improved in later versions of Outlook.
 
DeaconFrost said:
That's an incredibly more complex solution than just using something meant and intended for multiple computers. The best method is to use an IMAP account. IMAP support has been greatly improved in later versions of Outlook.
Click to expand...

If you're referring to my post about simply copying over PST files, it's really very simple.

With IMAP, you may have issues of overflowing your server mailbox, and you may also have issues with working with a mobile device like a BlackBerry or iPhone. Do you really want ALL your messages downloaded to your device or just those messages that haven't already been downloaded to your desktop, and possibly filed into various folders.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top