5 Serious Mistakes You Can Avoid with Microsoft Outlook

As an Outlook Expert, I come across some pretty scary troubleshooting efforts. Clients are trying to Google search repairs themselves or they have a technician who didn’t know what they were doing helping. What fixes non-professionals attempt and sometimes cause for even more problems.

Since I know Outlook very well, I know how to backup data before attempting repairs, I also know repairs better and short cuts to get things done more efficiently.

With that being said, I feel many frustrations you feel. One day I will do a standard repair and then to find out that I have to do it another way and it might take longer than what I was expecting. I try to manage expectations the best I can, but yet again…Microsoft keeps me busy.

Below is a list of the top 5 serious mistakes you can make with using Microsoft Outlook.

Number 5

• Never assume your Outlook is backed up. Too many of my clients assume that all of their Outlook files are backed up with their online programs. Sometimes those “online” companies only get what data is in the “Documents” folder and not in the deep depths of Outlook (this file C:\Users\Profile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook). You need to add this folder to your backup program. And if you have someone or another company backing up your data, you should check with them to make sure it’s being backed up.

Number 4

• Never assume your version of Outlook will last forever. Outlook 2007 is at end of life. Outlook 2010 is very close as well. Especially if you are moving to the Office 365 Exchange. I encourage all of my clients to upgrade now or soon. The new Outlook 2013 and 2016 just performs much better, faster and overall…nicer. I did have some reactions at first when I downloaded Outlook 2013, but now I am absolutely addicted.

Number 3

• Watch for your calendar and contacts too. If you upgraded to the new Outlook 2013/2016 and setup your email with the basic account setup (meaning you didn’t have to manually type in all the settings), ASSUME that your calendar and contacts you just imported might be in what is called an OST file (Offline storage, which is just a ghost copy and cannot be copied and imported into Outlook. If it breaks it has be repaired and that is not easy or cheap)

• An OST file is now the default when  you first setup Outlook for most email accounts. Calendar and Contacts might be sitting in that OST file and OST files are not like a PST (personal storage)

• OST files cannot be imported into Outlook. If you need the data you have to repair the file and then import into Outlook. This is why before I do work on calendar and contacts, I back up the data to a CSV or PST file first. It’s easier to back up then repair!

Number 2

• Be very careful with 3rd party apps using Outlook. This is WAY too common. Some of my business clients are using iCloud and other free apps to help sync their data and this is just not acceptable. I have seen iCloud cost my clients not only data loss, but time and money. I highly recommend all clients to move to Exchange if they have iCloud and this assumes they have an iPhone of course. Exchange is awesome and syncs very well, in fact..almost instant.

Number 1

• Overloading your email with IMAP mail syncing. This is one of my most popular calls I get in. IMAP Synchronizing issues. This usually happens (Gmail is great for allowing overload of email on the browser and then hoarding email in Outlook!). IMAP is common with free cable internet accounts such as  Cox.com, Charter.com, Comcast.com, AOL and other free accounts. The browser lets you hold on for years, but Outlook will eventually explode if you don’t do something about it. If you use Outlook, you need to control the email that comes down to Outlook.

If you need help with an Outlook issues, please contact me at 612-865-4475 or use the form below to get on my calendar.

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Category: Outlook Support