If you use an Android phone or tablet, you can sync calendar and contacts between Outlook and your phone one of two ways: using a Microsoft Exchange account (which includes Outlook.com) or using a third party utility (listed below).
If you already use Outlook.com or an Exchange account, you'll obviously use it. If you have a Microsoft account using a Gmail or other non-Microsoft address, you will need to add an Outlook.com alias to the Microsoft account in order to use it to sync calendar and contacts. See "add an alias to an existing account" for instructions.
Sync Outlook to Google Calendar, Contacts, Tasks! Two-way sync is enabled by default, or choose one way sync. Set the Auto Sync feature for every 15 minutes or manually sync on your own. Outlook Categories map to Google Groups One user-license is valid on up to 3 PCs. Free Trial Available.Microsoft Exchange server accounts (including Office 365 and Outlook.com) set up on Android devices will sync Calendar and Contacts; Tasks and Notes can be synced if you have an app that supports them as the native Android app and Outlook app do not sync Tasks or Notes at this time.
If you don't use Outlook.com for your email (using a POP3 or IMAP account instead), you'll need to use a sync utility to sync Outlook desktop with your Gmail account, or switch to Outlook.com. You can use Outlook.com for your calendar and contacts and your usual email account, however meeting invitations and responses will be sent from the Outlook.com account. (Microsoft is working on a cloud service that will sync Gmail with Outlook desktop - including Gmail calendar & contacts - as a Microsoft Exchange account.)
If you added your email address to Outlook.com as connected account, it is generally better (IMHO) to configure the email directly on the smartphone, preferably as an IMAP account (so sent items, deleted items, and read state sync with Outlook desktop, which is also configured for IMAP) and use the Outlook.com account to sync only calendar & contacts.
The video below uses a Gmail email account and an Android device, but the same method works on Apple and Windows devices. If the Microsoft Account/Outlook.com account is your email address, you'll need to add an Outlook.com alias to the account and use it to set the account up in Outlook desktop using auto account setup. See "Add an Alias to an Outlook.com Account" for the steps needed to add an alias to an existing Outlook.com account.
These are the basic steps. You need to use Outlook 2010 or newer. (Outlook 2007 will eventually stop connecting to Outlook.com using Exchange services, with degraded service beginning in October 2017).
In Outlook:
- Add the Outlook.com account to an Outlook profile. You must use auto account setup and will need to have an Outlook.com address on the account to use auto account setup. If the Outlook.com address is not the default address, the address will show in Outlook as outlook_uglycode@outlook.com.
- Add your email account to the profile
- The Outlook.com data file should be the default data file
- Your email account is the default email account
On the device:
- Add your email account (it's the Android account in my video demo and already configured in the Gmail app)
- Add the Outlook.com account as an Active Sync account in the Android mail app. Depending on your device, the account type might be called Exchange, Outlook.com, or Corporate. Choose the manual option if it's not an outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, or MSN email address. Use m.hotmail.com or eas.outlook.com as the server name but send a test message from the phone using the account. If the email address is 'outlook_uglycode@outlook.com', set it up using an Outlook.com address instead.
- Turn off email sync on the outlook.com account if you aren't using it for email.
- Turn off calendar and contact sync on your personal account or hide those folders, if needed. Set the Outlook.com calendar and contacts to be your default.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/01ZQIgEgcqQ
Sync Directly Between Outlook and Android
I want to sync my contacts and calendar back and forth with my Android smartphone. Will Outlook sync freely with Android?
To sync an Android phone directly with Outlook requires the use of a third party utility. Outlook has no part in the sync process, it only supplies the data you want to sync. Sync software does all of the work.
Your phone manufacturer may include sync software, if not, you'll need to purchase sync software. CompanionLink supports most phones. MyPhoneExplorer from the Android App Store will sync calendar and contacts (and more). Mobiledit or AkrutoSync are additional options.
It is possible to configure a POP3 account in Outlook.com as a connected account, which will allow you to sync over the air with phones that support Exchange ActiveSync (EAS). "Sync Calendar and Contacts Using Outlook.com"
Sync Androids with Outlook and iCloud
An Android user who is using the iCloud to sync Outlook and an iPad asked if it would be possible to sync their Android smart phone with iCloud. They wanted to avoid installing another sync utility when the iCloud worked great.
There are two Android apps, CardDav-Sync and CalDav-Sync, that can connect to the iCloud calendar and contacts. The iCloud will handle the Outlook-to-iCloud sync and the Droid connects to the iCloud website to sync.
Tools in the Spotlight
CompanionLink keeps Microsoft Outlook and your Android device synchronized. No Exchange Server required. Choose a USB connection or the secure DejaCloud wireless service. Both options include DejaOffice app for Android that provides an Outlook-like experience on your device. The app enables business features like color categories, database encryption and password-lock, integration with Caller ID and voice dial, and much more. Version 9 |
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CompanionLink synchronizes Outlook data with phones and other supported desktop applications and web-based services (like Google). Companionlink supports all versions of Outlook, including Outlook 2013 32-bit and 64-bit, and Windows 10. Version 9 |
Tools
Use AkrutoSync to synchronize your Outlook Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes directly with any Android, iOS (iPhone or iPad) or Windows Phone devices. AkrutoSync runs on your computer, not in the cloud. The program works with the phone's built-in apps, so there are no additional apps to install on the phone. After the initial set-up, the program syncs automatically. It works over Wi-Fi or the Internet. Akruto syncs Outlook with unlimited number of phones and tablets even if they are different brands and operating systems. Synchronization history feature lets you restore data if you change or delete something inadvertently. |
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Software to sync Outlook Calendar appointments with Google Calendar events. Allows you to sync one-way with either Outlook or Google as master as well as 2way sync by last changed appointments/events. Option to schedule a sync at regular intervals. |
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CompanionLink for Mac keeps Outlook for Mac contacts, calendars, tasks, and categories synchronized with either a Google account, smartphone, or tablet. You can choose your destination in the Settings menu of the software. Two-way direct sync. |
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GeneralSync can sync between any number of Android devices and PCs with Thunderbird and/or Outlook. In contrast to other options it does not require a designated computer to be powered on at all times and works without uploading your data to any cloud. The synchronization is instead performed directly between the devices that are connected to each other at a given time (decentral, peer-to-peer). That way, it can be used in small offices or at home, without setting up or administering any kind of server. Currently, GeneralSync is available for free during a public beta phase. |
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GO Contact Sync Mod synchronizes your Microsoft Outlook contacts with your Google Mail address book, including pictures, categories and notes. Since version 3.5.6 it also syncs your Outlook Notes on demand to Google Drive. Since version 3.7.0 it also syncs your Outlook Calendar Appointments on demand to Google Calendar. This Mod fork adds many enhancements and bug fixes to the obviously dead project 'Go Contact Sync'. |
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gSyncit is an Outlook add-in that allows for two-way synchronization between Outlook calendars, contacts, notes, and tasks with your Google, iCloud, AOL, Fruxx, Yahoo, Memotoo and many other "DAV" enabled services. Also includes support for syncing attachments for calendar events. Works with Microsoft Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 or Office 365 (Desktop Client) on Windows 7 and newer. |
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MOBILedit! allows you to control your phone from a PC. After downloading MOBILedit! to any computer, you can connect your phone via cable, Bluetooth, or IrDA. You will then be able to view the entire contents of the phone where you can synchronize, add, edit, or delete. |
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Connect your phone via cable, bluetooth or wifi to manage your Android phone. Direct sync Address Book to Outlook, GMail, Windows contacts, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Lotus Notes. Sync Organizer to Outlook, Google, Sunbird, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Windows calendar(Vista), Rainlendar, Lotus Notes, and net shared calendars (WebDAV, FTP, local). See wbsite for complete list of features. |
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Outlook CalDav Synchronizer is a free Outlook Plugin, which synchronizes events, tasks and contacts between Outlook and Google, SOGo, Nextcloud or any other CalDAV or CardDAV server. Supported Outlook versions are Office 365, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 and 2007. |
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Outlook Google Calendar Sync is completely free and syncs between any Outlook calendar and a Google calendar of your choice - either in a single direction or two-way. Attendees, reminders, free/busy attributes are all synced, events can be merged with existing if necessary, and even words in calendar subject's can be obfuscated if you have security concerns. Syncs can be configured on an automatic schedule, or simply upon request. It does not need to be installed (can just be unzipped) and works behind web proxies. Supports Outlook 2003 right through to Outlook 2016 64-bit! |
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SimpleSYN Mobile is the synchronization solution for synchronizing Outlook data with your iPhone, iPad or Android device. Emails, appointments, contacts, notes and tasks are always up-to-date on all devices. Your Outlook data always remains local on your devices and is not stored in the cloud. On your smartphone you do not need an additional app and you can use the built-in apps. SimpleSYN Mobile syncs on the local network (WLAN) or on the way via the internet. Free 30 days trial available |
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Automatically synchronize your Outlook calendar and contacts with Google or iCloud. Access Outlook calendar and contacts on your Android phone or iPhone/iPad. |
Yusuf Mumtaz says
Noticed something strange with the new Outlook. IMAP accounts automatically get a local calendar. Not sure how usable that is because it won't sync neither to the server nor the mobile app.
Also, I create an event from an IMAP email, it will save to the local calendar instead of the primary which can sync back.
I am not sure why Microsoft did this. It would make it difficult to use IMAP. They should consider natively supporting Caldav and Cardav.
Nuno says
Myphoneexplorer is the best of these: free and syncs notes, calendar, contacts with hi-res pictures, allows for file transfers, etc.. Only drawback is it syncs notes with its own note app and not the phones
Mirv says
Can you sync Outlook Taks/Todo's with the Android Phone, as well as Calendar and Contacts in Myphoneexplorer? I am going to be using Blackberry KeyOne Black Edition with the extra memory. Also will it only sync with the Android contacts and calendar which will would be OK, or can it be set up with in my case using the BB contacts, calendar and tasks which would be ideal. Any comments much appreciated.
Dean says
I agree with that! I have looked high and low for many years to push Outlook contacts from multiple Contact folders to my Android phone. Since Android has a way of messing up contacts when synced back to Outlook, a critical feature is the ability to perform a one-way push from Outlook to my phone. This is totally fine with me because I rarely need to edit or create a contact on my phone. When I do need to create a contact on my phone, I can do it in a different folder on my phone. Kudos to the developer of MyPhoneExplorer. The graphics and style of the program (especially the Android app) may seem out-of-date, but there is a bunch of great functionality under the hood. So, don't let the looks of the program deceive you. This program also includes clipboard syncing, remote control of your phone, and other great stuff! I'm a fan and will be donating to the developer of this freeware.
Nick says
Sorry = to previous post I meant to add, if anyone has any ideas to help that would be truly appreciated :-)
Nick says
My Android - Outlook syncing has just broken.
What seems to have happened is that previously, my contacts and calendar were in my Microsoft Exchange as my normal email first.last@domain.com (this is what I used to sign in to MS. I had an alias outlook_bigscarynumber@outlook.com which I set for syncing (I can't remember the details, but it was from advice on this site), but in Outlook, my contacts and calandar were listed under the first.last@domain.com (i.e. the name of the address book was this, and the calendar also)
Now it seems that everything is under outlook_bigscarynumber@outlook.com in Outlook, and first.last@domain.com is just a POP/SMTP mail account. I guess something must have updated overnight ?
So now on Android, I have sync with first.last@domain.com as an Exchange account, but all my Exchange contacts and calendar info is gone. I tried to add outlook_bigscarynumber@outlook.com as an Exchange account, but it said "sign in Failed" I don't remember putting in any special password for this account, but the one for my standard Microsoft account doesn't work and if I put I a different password, I don't know what it is.
Note I am only interested in syncing calendar and contacts.
This is very annoying that something that worked fine has been changes without any notification.....
Diane Poremsky says
>> I had an alias outlook_bigscarynumber@outlook.com which I set for syncing
That means you had a non-Microsoft account set as the primary address on the Microsoft account. This address is not routable or can be used to sign in.
The best option is to add an outlook.com alias to your Microsoft account and set it as the primary address and use it to sign in. Go to https://account.microsoft.com/profile/ and click manage how you sign in to add the alias.
Doug M says
Ah, there is more! I've discovered a real disconnect between Outlook and Google on how they handle company names in Contacts.
Background - LG G5 phone with Android 7.0. Windows 10 pro 64bit. Outlook 2016 full install. Set up Outlook.com account, linked to Outlook 2016 Contacts. Started clean, imported my contacts into new Outlook.com account contact folder. These synced fine to Outlook.live.com. Then in Android phone, set up exchange account with @outlook.com email address. Contacts synced. But I have many contacts in Outlook desktop with company name only - like "Delta Airlines" in Company field and File as: field. They display fine in desktop Outlook. My sort order is File As: No problem, yet.
But when I sync to the Android contacts, the sync process - again, not sure on who's side it is on, but the Company name gets parsed into the First and Last name fields. Example - Delta gets parsed into the First name field and Airlines get parsed into the Last name field. On my phone, I sort by Last name, so now this company appears as Airlines, Delta in the A's! Uggghh!
But wait, it gets worse. I thought I had a fix, tedious and manual, of going into each contact on my phone and deleting the First, Middle (if there was one) and Last name entries. With that done, now Delta Airlines appears as "Delta Airlines" in the D's. Great! But no. Because of the active sync, this edit is sent back to the Exchange server and now in Outlook.live.com Contact website, Delta Airlines now appears only as a phone # on top of the A's. But it gets worse, it migrates back to my desktop Outlook and now Delta Airlines sorts above the A's in some no-man's land. If I go into that record in Outlook desktop, it looks the same - same Delta Airlines in the File as: field. ?? If I clear that field, then save the record, then open it up again and re-enter Delta Airlines in the File As: field, then it sorts back into the D's. But guess what - that screwed up the record again in Android contacts, with the parsing into the first and last name fields. A vicious circle!
I know Microsoft has been working on making Outlook more relevant with its efforts to allow Contact and Calendar sync via Outlook.live.com, but this little details needs attention. I am sure I am not the only one out there who has company name only contacts and would like them to sort properly on each end. Posted on Technet and Google forums also.
Doug
Doug M says
Success. Sorry for all the chatter. Solved the issue by completely deleting all contacts, re-importing them, and was finally able to remove the Outlook.com account from my Android phone and re-establish the account.
I was originally trying to remove the account from within the Gmail app. Can't do it there. Had to go to Settings, Accounts, then click on each "category" of accounts until I found the outlook.com account under Gmail - Exchange category. (well hidden!). Then clicked on it, then menu ..., and remove account was an option. Removed it, then went through reestablishing it according to Diane's video. Set it up as a Microsoft Exchange account.
Thanks much Diane for providing this help!
Doug
Diane Poremsky says
Chatter is no problem - it can help others. :)
Doug M says
A bit of an update. I deleted all my contacts from Outlook 2016 (saved elsewhere!) and from Outlook.com and from Google Contacts and from my Android Contacts. Figured I would start over. Then re-imported my contact.pas file back into Outlook 2016's Outlook.com contact folder. These promptly populated into Outlook.com - all of them.
Now trying to get Android Contacts to sync with Outlook.com. But its being stubborn - nothing so far.
Kevin A says
Hi Doug M,
Were you able to get Android Contacts to sync with Outlook.com? If yes what where the steps you did? Thank you in advance!
Doug M says
Thank you so much for your articles and help for this - what must be a difficult task - but should not be... another story.
I am having mixed results trying to sync my Outlook 2016 contacts to Outlook.com and Android Contact app. Here is what has occurred:
1). I setup Outlook.com account with email alias, added this account to Outlook 2016 using auto create. Imported all my contacts into this new outlook contact folder with the outlook_ugly@outlook.com name.
2). When I go to Outlook.live.com and look at contacts, some are there, but others are not. Maybe 30% are missing.
3). When I add a new contact in Outlook 2016 - same ugly name folder as above, the new contact does not appear on outlook.live.com contacts. But it does appear on Outlook Android app! But many other contacts do not appear on the Outlook Android app. Maybe 60% are missing.
4). I've also tried to sync the Android Contact app with the outlook.com accout, but new additions as in 3 above are not added, they do not appear in the Android Contacts.
Any ideas on how to fix this mess? Or things I may have messed up in setting it up?
Thanks much
Doug
LuisR says
It worked perfectly for me Diane.
Thanks a lot!
Paul Collins says
Hi, thanks for excellent article. I have one email account on top level business subscription with Office 365 and had it for many years. Have Outlook for Android on Nexus 6P phone but since Feb when I receive a call the caller's name is not shown. Previously the phone would look at the Outlook contacts and match the number. In order to turn on the phone's USB port you must enable developer options this unfortunately subscribed me to Android beta updates. So in February the phone updated to Android 7.x and then the above problem started. I have tried many things but no joy. Today I resorted to raising a support incident with Microsoft but no joy. They just tried OWA instead of Outlook and OWA had exactly the same problem. Then they sent me an email that was not relevant to the issue. So I have searched and found your article, how refreshing to find someone who really knows their stuff. My question is can I run Outlook for Android in the normal way and also have GMail app syncing with Office 365 at the same time on the same phone for the same email address? I only want to use GMail for the purpose of syncing the phones own phonebook so that the phone shows who is calling me. Thanks again for your great article.
David Anning says
Hi Diane
Thank you for the article.
I am having all sorts of trouble setting up my outlook.com account on my one plus 2 android phone. If I use the outlook app, eveythingworks OK but I don't like the app at all. I would prefer to use bluemail and business calendar 2 which I really like and used to work ok until recently.
The symptoms are as follows. I set up my outlook.com account in blue mail using active sync and can then configure bc2 to manage my calendar. So far so good. However, bc2 sometimes does not issue invites for events (I.e. Meeting invites). Other times it works ok.
Occasionally when I try to reply to an email in bluemail, the reply sits in the outbox. An error message sometimes flashes up but not al the time. It's very frustrating and I think it's an outlook issue because my gmail email works with bm with no problems. Any ideas?
Thanks
David
Ps bm seems to work on my iPad fine
Diane Poremsky says
do you know what the error message says? I'll see if i can repro.
Are you setting it up using the outlook.com account type or exchange? (It shouldn't matter these days... but try exchange.)
David Anning says
Hi Diane
Thanks for your reply.
I've actually split email away from calendar / contacts as per your video above. I believe the bc problem is with calendar syncing. I've noticed that if I force a calendar re-sync via settings, accounts etc., the meeting invites are issued. I have syncing set to the default, 'push' so not sure what the problem is.
Since I split my email off to LDAP, I've not had any problems with replying to emails.
Thanks
David
jacqueline says
Thank you for this article. I followed the instructions then made an oops.
When creating a new email alias, I changed my primary account on Microsoft to the new alias.
I thought i could change back to my original primary email account, but no - I received an error message.
I contacted Microsoft using their surprisingly efficient chat feature.
I must wait one week before being able to change back to my original primary account. Deep breath and sigh.
Diane Poremsky says
Yeah, they have a 7 days delay and sometimes after changing it, it looks like it wasn't changed, so you think you need to click again.
Jay Long says
Strangely on two Android devices I have when I add the account to the device I can't edit the Calendar appointments created on Outlook.com via the web. It's as ig I'm not set as the organiser. I've logged in as an alias address, and the outlook.com address. Neither makes a difference. At one point I managed to login using the outlook_xxxxxxxx@outlook.com address and was able to edit the appointments but that access has since stopped working completely. Any further suggestions? I've checked the case of the login ID's, and messed around switching primary aliases, etc.
Diane Poremsky says
This is using the default android app? I will need to look into this - appointments should be editable, but contacts might not be (they weren't on android, but i haven't tested it in some time and things could change).
Jay Long says
I've tried the generic app on a Sony Xperia Z5, and the Blackberry Calendar app. I've been trhough all the possible login options I have and for testing purposes kept the settings at default. I've noticed other people with the same issue which is why I've made sure the case and alias details are all OK. Strange how it worked with the ugly address for a short time.
Diane Poremsky says
Everytime i tried the ugly address, it never worked for me - i was shocked when people said it worked - but it's possible they did some backend magic to make it work - they are working on fixing the problems with 3rd party addresses and this might be step 1.
Toni Brown says
Thank you for this. I have several calendars on my Live account, and while fixing a minor problem with my email program on my phone (BlueMail, which I love), I inadvertently screwed up my calendars. It did not occur to me to turn off sync for the Exchange account and just let BlueMail do they synchronizing. It now works perfectly.
Kathy says
This method has worked beautifully for many years on my phone. (THANK YOU!!!!!!!!) However, on my new phone, Moto Z Play android, I am unable to do a total manual set up. As soon as I enter the incoming server data, I get this message:
The server at m.hotmail.com requires that you allow it to remotely control some security features of your Android device. Do you want to finish setting up your device?"
It then gives me the option of OK--which means it sets up the rest of the way by itself OR to Cancel --in which case in just goes back to where I started.
Is there a way around this?
Another thing I notice is that the calendar I am trying to get to sync is listed and checked on my list of Google calendar options. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong, but after 8+ hours of figuring, I am beyond frustrated.
Any help you can offer is GREATLY appreciated!
Diane Poremsky says
Choose ok on that dialog. For personal accounts, it won't control anything, but is used for office 365 business accounts, which share the server.
I'm not sure I understand the calendar problem. It's not your google calendar?
Nick says
Firstly, thank you for this article. This seems an obvious thing that people would want to do, yet there seem a complete lack of clear instructions on how to generally. The internet is full of rubbish. I have no idea how you work this stuff out, as the vendors don't seem to help at all.
Just a little bit of clarification... on my phone, at least, I was asked for the address email and Domainuser name. I have a non Microsoft account as my main login username, and to do sync with Outlook.com, I have an account made for me by MS (of the type outlook_XXXXX@outlook.com.
So to make this work, I put in the outlook_XXX account as the "address email" (which I don't actually use for mail, just for sync), and I put in my actual email address (which I use as a username for MS login) as the Domainusername. This is how I got mine to work anyway.
Diane Poremsky says
So the outlook_ugly address worked to set up sync? Cool. We recommend adding an outlook.com alias to the account and using it - this is a routable address, should you accidently send using it. (The outlook_ugly addresses are not routable.)
Bryan says
Moderator, why are you removing my question? I am having trouble with these instructions. None of them match what I am encountering and the results are not as presented here. Email me and tell me why you are biased against my posts.
Diane Poremsky says
Not removed, just holding in the moderation queue until i get to the comment - it makes it easier to find the comments that need answered.
(outright spam is removed, valid comments with swearing (f-bombs are not uncommon when people are mad at microsoft!) are edited for a PG-rated audience.)
Bryan says
I'm simply trying to setup my Outlook.com account on Android so that I can see and sync email, calender, and contacts. I've tried the official Outlook app and it's useless. I need to see my calendar events and be able to search them. I also need my contacts synced. I am unable to follow which methods presented here to accomplish this task. I have Outlook desktop working so I don't need any information about the desktop app. I merely want my outlook.com account data to be available on my android phone.
Every time I add my outlook.com account to the default android calendar app it accepts it, prompts me for 2-factor authentication, accepts that then returns to the account list which does NOT show the account I just added. I've tried Microsoft Account and Exchange types and the same thing occurs.
Is there a step-by-step set of instructions just to do this that don't involve interjection of EAS, EWS, IMAP, POP, and Outlook desktop or gmail addresses ?
Thanks
Bryan
Diane Poremsky says
Which android version do you use? I'll see if i can repro any problems.
Did you try using an app password instead? (If you are asked for the 2FA auth, it should work, but its worth trying an app password.)
Bryan says
This has to be the most confusing set of instructions ever written.
Diane Poremsky says
I cleaned them a bit - hope it's a bit better now. :)
Michael says
Found It,
Open the outlook app
Click settings (gear looking thing)
Click on your current ms account
Turn on sync contacts.
Ray says
Couldn't be easier - once it was pointed out!!! THANK YOU!!!
Joe Meagher says
Hi Diane. I am trying to setup a profile in Outlook 2007 to sync my calendar with a Samsung S7. I have followed the videos but the setup in Outlook Tais different. Any similar links on how to setup in Outlook 2007 please?Thank you.
Diane Poremsky says
The account settings dialog is in the Tools menu - everything else should look the same - you will need to use auto account setup. Note that Outlook 2007 will not connect to Outlook.com/Office 365 after Oct 31 2017. Also, you need all updates installed for it to work with Outlook.com/office 365 now.
The video on this page was obsolete - outlook no longer supports activesync. You need to use autoaccount setup these days. I'll need to re-do it.
Brian Weir says
Hi Diane, I just switched to an android phone and installed office 365 home version on my PC. I am using an imap email that is from a domain I own and host through HostGator. I followed the steps in your video but i still cant get my contacts or calendar to sync on the outlook app for android.I tried talking to Microsoft tech support and they are saying I cant do this with the home version but would have to upgrade to the Office 365 business. Any thoughs? Thank you
Diane Poremsky says
Home will work, but you need an outlook.com account configured in outlook as a microsoft exchange account to sync calendar and contacts to and from the desktop. Since the migration to office 365 servers, you need to use an outlook.com address to set up the account as Exchange. You may need to use an outlook.com alias on the device too - but try using eas.outlook.com as the servername and see if it works.
Ruli says
Hello Diane, thanks for your great tutorial. its really help me a lot. furthermore, I'm still can't configure how to sync task from outlook desktop client with my android phone. I'm using POP/IMAP account on my outlook desktop. Any way to do this, 3rd party additional software, etc, please help me to configure it out.
Thanks,
Ruli
Diane Poremsky says
You need a task app... the easiest way is to use outlook.com to handle the syncing, but if you want to use a utility, companionlink should do it. (I'm pretty sure it syncs tasks.)
Ric says
Hello Diane, I followed your instructions and successfully synced my @outlook.com account (calendar, contacts, and tasks) in the Galaxy S7 calendar/contacts apps. Out of the blue, something went really wrong and some contacts' names don't appear on the caller ID anymore while making/receiving calls, just the phone number (even on whatsapp). On the contacts app everything seems alright. How can I fix this?
Thank you very much for your help :)
Diane Poremsky says
So the name fields look ok on the phone? Open an affected contact in outlook desktop - click the full name button. Are the names where you expect them? Is the name in the file as and email display name field?
Ric PM says
Hi Diane, yes the names are in the right fields (full name details), in the pone as well as in Outlook desktop. The file as is: 'name' 'surname'.
Diane Poremsky says
I'll see if i can repro with my android - i suspect it might be something with the app, but i can't say for sure right now.
Wen says
Syncing my Calendars: Hello there.
We have one email address for everything and that is a yahoo.com email address. We have Microsoft Office suite on the desktop & use Outlook for the emails, contacts & calendar. We have the correct & most up to date Microsoft Outlook app on both our Android Zen pad & iPad tablets so that we can check our emails on the go. However, the one thing we cannot do with this system is synchronise the calendar on the desktop with the calendar on the Outlook app on the tablets. So my question is, why not? Why does OneDrive not have the capability? (like iCloud?) We have come across something called syncoutlook.com which is an app that allegedly synchronises what we want but we're not sure if it really works & can't find recent feedback either. We simply cannot believe that this is not possible. We do not want to change our email address by the way. Many thanks in hoping that you can help us, as nobody so far has come up with an answer to solve our problem.Wen
Diane Poremsky says
>> Why does OneDrive not have the capability? (like iCloud?)
It's not a onedrive feature - it would need to be a feature supported by yahoo and it's not. Their calendar is a basic calendar service provided by many imap servers. It doesn't sync to anything.
outlook syncs with outlook.com and exchange accounts because the calendars are stored in the mailbox - but it only syncs imap mailboxes with yahoo and gmail - their calendars are separate and stored elsewhere (plus imap is an email-only protocol). Both have a different calendar and contacts support which does not sync to outlook. At this time, they are working on syncing gmail calendar & contacts using the "Microsoft Cloud". At this time, they can't support yahoo because it doesn't have a calendar API that allows 2-way sync. You can subscribe to the yahoo calendar, but that is one way sync - yahoo to outlook. (Right click on yahoo calendar, share, generate links. in outlook, right click on 'My Calendar", Add Calendar > from internet and paste link)
Sync2 from the link you posted and companionlink will sync outlook to devices but can't sync yahoo to outlook. I recommend using the trial to see if either meets your needs.
Derek says
I'm surprised there is little discussion of this online, but maybe it is a new issue related to the release of Android Nougat on my Galaxy S7 (Verizon).
I have outlook.com calendar, contacts, email, etc. I can get it to sync to the phone by adding an account on Android as Exchange Active Sync, my only apparent option. The default server is m.hotmail.com but I have also reproduced the following results with the outlook.office365.com server too.
The result is the following problem with calendar (the stock Android calendar): I can see my events, but if I tap to edit one, I cannot edit it. Under the details, it shows my Full Name as Host, and under Invitee it has "Me". In other words, it thinks the host is not me. I have the exchange active sync account on android exactly correct: that is, the email address, case sensitive, exactly right, and tied to the primary alias in outlook.com. I also have my profile under Android contacts listed with my outlook.com email. But regardless of what I do, I cannot edit calendar items I create on my computer's outlook client or outlook.com that sync to my phone. I can, however, edit events I create on my phone using the outlook.com profile.
Any ideas how to fix this?
Diane Poremsky says
it sounds like the droid thinks they are meetings and your account is an invitee. This is not uncommon with activesync accounts and i'm not aware of any way to fix this.
I don't think it will matter, but try using eas.outlook.com as the server.
ajwh says
I'm having the same issue.
My university runs Office365 on an exchange server (outlook.office365.com) and I view my calendar with Outlook 2016.
I had an android phone running S-planner under KitKat with no issues.
I've upgraded to a new phone using calendar under Android Nougat and I have the same issue of calendar entries appearing as invitations, and are thus non-editable.
If I create an entry on the phone,it behaves correctly, syncs and I can edit it.
I've tried every combination of Exchange and EAS and they all behave the same.
Outlook for android behaves correctly, but the display is terrible and unusable.
Since the old phone works correctly still,I assume it's a mismatch between Android and Exchange........
Any ideas gratefully received.
ajwh says
Ok - a bit more information. I was using the Samsung calendar app, so I installed the Google calendar app, and it had the same problem, so it looks as if it's the connection between android and Exchange server........
Diane Poremsky says
I would log into owa and create a rule for the address with the action 'move to inbox'. See if that works.
Agnes says
I have issue syncing my calendar from outlook to phone's calendar. I have Galaxy s7 and use Outlook app and the native Samsung calendar app.
I am able to sync calendar from outlook (either desktop or phone Outlook app) to Samsung calendar app. I CANNOT sync events created in Samsung calendar app to Outlook (either phone's app or desktop).
I followed instructions on this blog. Removed accounts, re-added them.
My Outlook app is set up with outlook.com alias. It is set up as exchange type with server set to outlook.office365.com.
My Microsoft Exchange Activesync is set up for my outlook account, but I am unable to edit/view any settings at setup time, or after it has been setup (phone's set up interface does not give that option). Yes, I am using the right calendar.
The only reason I am going through this mess is because MSFT decided not to include monthly view in their Outlook app and I need that, so need to use another calendar app for that.
I made sure my power saving setting is off and cleared calendar storage data (suggestions in another forum). I removed all accounts and re-added them. No change to syncing behavior.
I really would not want to use another syncing app just to have monthly view!
Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!
Diane Poremsky says
>> I am able to sync calendar from outlook (either desktop or phone Outlook app) to Samsung calendar app. I CANNOT sync events created in Samsung calendar app to Outlook (either phone's app or desktop).
Did autoaccount setup use outlook.office365.com as the server name? If you typed it in, try eas.outlook.com instead. Not sure it will make a difference though.
The setup options should be visible in email setup, although i don't have my android on me to verify they are editable in the settings. (plus my android options could be different than yours.)
Alan says
Calendar syncing = fully working
===========================
Syncing calendar events from web clients (Outlook.com and Office 365) to my Android phone (Outlook app) = works.
Syncing calendar events from Android phone (Outlook app) to web clients (Outlook.com and Office 365) = works
Contacts syncing = half working
===========================
Syncing contacts from web clients (Outlook.com and Office 365) to my Android phone (Outlook app and Android contacts) = works
Syncing contacts from Android phone (Outlook app and Android contacts) = does not work.
More specifically:
A) Outlook.com app does not have a feature to add/modify contacts on the phone.
B) Android contacts lets me add new contacts but (I) these never get synced back to the web (2) the newly created contacts disappear after a while. This gives the impression the sync process is one-way only (web to phone).
Any help of this "Syncing contacts from Android phone (Outlook app and Android contacts)" would be welcomed.
Diane Poremsky says
I'll double check with the new server, but i know in the past, outlook.com accounts were one-way sync on contacts and it was not possible to create new contacts in the outlook.com account on an android. You could try adding the account to the native android as an exchange or corporate account (if asked, used outlook.office365.com as the server name).
Brad Friedman says
I am still having an issue with syncing to my Galaxy S7. I have multiple accounts on my device but my Exchange account will not sync contacts or calendar. I have followed your instructions and everything "looks" fine. The synchronization process says it has completed but no records.
- I can add a contact or appt on my Outlook desktop, it syncs to the web interface
- I can add on the web interface and it syncs to the desktop
- I have added Exchange sync on my S7 with a mail server as m.hotmail.com eas.outlook.com and outlook.office365.com. All configure well, all "sync" (or at least they say they have sync'd) - but none do...
- I have validated that I am viewing all contact and calendar accounts
The only thing I have not done is used a third party app.
What an I missing to get this to work? Any guidance is appreciated.
Diane Poremsky says
Are you looking at the right calendar on your device? Are you using an Outlook.com address? If not, add an outlook.com alias to your outlook.com account and use that to sign in. Did you select Exchange as the account type or Outlook.com? It should be set up as an Exchange or corporate account using outlook.office365.com as the server address if asked.
Brad Friedman says
Thank you for the reply. I had done all of those things in the past including the alias and still had issues. Does not mean I did not try again today. It all worked appropriately, with the caveat that it only set up my contacts to sync. I had to manually execute the same exercise for the calendar (add an account in the calendar app). Regardless, it is working now - I feel like a DEU (dumb end user) - thanks again.
Paul Dalton says
Can you suggest which sync app/apps we should use? My wife and I use Outlook in Office365 Home for email, calendaring and contacts. We each have multiple (but different) IMAP email accounts we use/monitor.
Each of us uses Outlook's scheduling feature to "schedule" the other for our appointments, events, etc. (although we wish there was a way to do it as just a "notification" so it wouldn't look like the other is also "busy" for that same time) so each of us can see on our own calendars where the other of us will be at any particular time. The multiple IMAP email accounts each of us uses/monitors are already set up directly in each of our two smartphones (an iPhone4 and a Samsung Galaxy S6.), so we don't need an app to handle email syncing.
The real functionality we need is a tool that will let each of us sync our own contacts and our own calendar with our own smartphone and, for the calendaring, do so in such a way that,when one of us "schedules" an event using our smartphone, that event (or a notification of it) will end up on both of our PC Outlook calendars, as well as on the other's smartphone calendar.
I hope this makes sense and you can provide some suggestions.
Diane Poremsky says
I would take a look at companionlink - but it works best if you use Outlook.com or gmail accounts for calendar and contacts - then the phones will sync with the outlook.com or gmail server and companionlink will sync calendar & contacts in a pst with the server.
Barry Richard says
My calendar and contacts are on my Android phone. I have a new computer running windows 10 and want to sync outlook to the phone. I have no contacts or schedule on the computer and do not want to lose anything. I find information on syncing the phone to the computer but not the other way. Any direction will be appreciated.
Diane Poremsky says
if they are on the phone only and not in an account that syncs to a server (gmail or outlook.com), then you need to
export them to a file and import it in outlook (I'm not sure if droids can do this - if you can get it into google calendar, then it definitely can be exported). Once exported you have a couple of choices: use outlook.com and sync it with outlook and the sync or use gmail and companion link. (I have a client who syncs calendar & contacts in a pst file to Outlook.com, which then syncs with the phone.)
Mark Reardon says
Diane, when I enter events on my Samsung Galaxy Note 5 using Outlook they do not show up in my main calendar on my desktop. Can you help?
Diane Poremsky says
Are you adding them to the correct calendar on the device? Set it as default then turn off all calendars except the outlook.com calendar.
Kati says
Is this process with the assumption that you are running some web version of Outlook(outlook.com, 365, etc.) on your laptop and not a client? I use Outlook 2010 on my PC and have a Verizon.net email/internet account. I set up email from Vz on my Samsung Android Galaxy S7 and even imported contacts to Google and then to my phone, but the import wouldn't work for calendar. I really need my calendar on my phone. Does this or another process work with syncing Outlook client or do I have to get a utility? I am not getting the same prompts as the video and can't set up the Outlook.com account in my profile.
Thank you VERY much!
Diane Poremsky says
This process uses an Outlook.com account set up in Outlook desktop. If you don't use an outlook.com or exchange account, you will need to use a 3rd party utility to sync calendar & contacts with the phone (usually, sync to gmail which then syncs with phone)
Scott Graham says
Akruto synch and Companionlink didn't help me synch my droid to my new SurfacePro. Companionlink synched my contacts but nothing else. Akruto synch didn't work at all. I then tried Synch2. Synched some calendar events from outlook to droid and vice-versa but not all.
Diane Poremsky says
If you had Companionlink set up correctly, everything (well, calendar, contacts, tasks) should have synced. If you aren't syncing to gmail, you need to use their Deja service.
Joellen says
syncing outlook with an android phone and a live.com email address....help. my phone is a Motorola Pure and outlook is 2016
Diane Poremsky says
You just need to add the live account to Outlook - use auto account setup - and add it to the phone (also using the phone's auto account setup but if it asks for a server name, use eas.outlook.com).
If you did that, what happened?
Mike says
I am issues configuring my hotmail on Galaxy S7 edge with Exchange active sync. I fill in all the correct settings using the server m.hotmail.com and it just spins saying "Checking incoming server settings ..." Tried using m.outlook.com and eas.outlook.com and this does not work either as whilst the process seems to set up the account I can see no emails, no calendar and no folders, and the outlook.live.com server does nothing at all... This is really frustrating as it worked fine on my old Galaxy Note 4. What is really strange is that I set up my wife's hotmail account on a Galaxy S6 and it works with m.hotmail.com as the server however before I can sync I receive an email from Microsoft suggesting I install the Outlook.com App with a link to the internet so I can say I don't want to but I want to sync directly. Then everything works fine for my wife's account. There is also a strange difference between our 2 accounts when we access them via a browser in that the interfaces are different : mine is via dub130.mail.live.com and my wife's uses outlook.live.com. What puzzles me further is that I can set up my hotmail on my wife's galaxy S6 which suggests it is a problem related to my phone but afetr a factory reset the problem persists. I do not want to use IMAP or POP3 as this does not sync calendars and contacts in the Samsung email app. I also prefer not to install the Outlook App which is useless. Above all I need all my calendars and contacts in the same place on S Calendar, and in Contacts. Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated as I have spent hours on it already
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this earlier (was swamped over the holidays) - going forward, use either eas.outlook.com or outlook.office365.com if you add the account as an exchange account.
Tim says
I am trying to sync the my Android (BlackBerry priv) Phone with Outlook 2007 using the MyPhoneExplorer app. Excellent program; Calendar and Messages and Contacts work just fine, however I can't get my Notes synced. I am using the native/built-in Notes app on my Android Phone, however I believe it's a BlackBerry app. Anyone a good solution to this problem?
Diane Poremsky says
Not all apps support Outlook Notes, unfortunately. Even syncing Exchange accounts doesn't include Notes if the app doesn't support it.
Rahul Dahake says
Hi Diane,
i have below issue regarding Sync on anroid phone.
user can send/receive email from my phone fine, but when I delete or read a message using Outlook, the change is not reflected on the phone. When user check the mail icon, he has 20 unread messages, but he has read or deleted them all from Outlook!
have tried removing and re-adding the Exchange account, which refreshed the list, and removed the deleted/marked as read messages up to that point. But then any new messages after that have the same issue.
User is Samsung Galaxy S6, Android 6.0.1 and other is using S7
Please help out to islate this issue.
Rahul Dahake says
Hi Diane.
I have the below issue regarding outlook mails not synching with anroid phone for multiple users.
user can send/receive email from my phone fine, but when I delete or read a message using Outlook, the change is not reflected on the phone. When user check the mail icon, he has 20 unread messages, but he has read or deleted them all from Outlook!
have tried removing and re-adding the Exchange account, which refreshed the list, and removed the deleted/marked as read messages up to that point. But then any new messages after that have the same issue.
User is Samsung Galaxy S6, Android 6.0.1 and other is using S7
Please help out to islate this issue.
Haisang Wu says
Hi Diane, I have been using native Android app to sync my outlook.com contacts and calendar (using eas.outlook.com, exactly as your page indicated) for 2 years. Before Oct 20 2016, I can add contact/calendar on my phone, and it will sync to outlook.com, and vice versa. But after Oct 20 2016, local edits on my phone (contact or calendar) cannot be sync-ed to outlook.com, so I lost quite a few changes before I finally realized. I deleted the account and re-set it, and now no contacts can be sync-ed down from outlook.com (calendar can be sync-ed down, but not up). My outlook account had been migrated to Microsoft Office 365 as I can see from the web interface. Do you think it's the Office 365 migration that caused the sync problem?
To see my contacts on phone, now I have to use Outlook app on my Android phone to sync contacts/calendar. One bad thing about Outlook app is, it still only supports downstream sync. Further, the outlook android app does not even allow adding/editing/removing contacts from the app (only allows calendar changes), which makes it a half-baked solution as of now. Any help from you would be appreciated!
Johnny Miller says
I have a android phone running the outlook android app. I also have outlook running on my desktop with contacts in it. I have my own domain name and I would like to use my custom domain e-mail on the android app to send and receive e-mail. Can this be done using outlook.com?
Diane Poremsky says
try setting it up as an outlook.com or exchange account and use eas.outlook.com as the server. you may need to use the manual config option.
Tom says
Hi Diana. Using Outlook.com account and email. When entering a new contact in my Office Outlook 2010 full desktop version, the contact will appear soon after in my outlook.com app on my Android phone. However, if I enter a new contact in my outlook.com mobile app first, it will either mysteriously disappear after a while, and will note sync back to Office Outlook, desktop version. Furthermore, on my Android mobile, I created the same Contact in the Outlook mobile app, as well as on the phone Contact app, and Linked them together. It showed for a while and after that it disappeared from the Outlook mobile Contact list. What do I do wrong??
Diane Poremsky says
Does the contact sync to the outlook.com website?
Are you using the outlook connector in outlook or was the account moved to the new server and set up as exchange server?
When you create the contact or the phone, do you open it and edit it or add a birthday? There is an issue with syncing edits over EAS on the old server.
Tim Dean says
thank yo so mich.all workedlike a charm.you really are THE Outook Guru.greetings from Switzerland
Gary says
My business just converted to microsoft 365 and I seem to be having a conflict on my phone (Galaxy Note Edge) between the native app and google. Specifically, when set up as an exchange server, my 365 account contacts propagate and after a short period the google settings in the phone wipe out the 365 contacts and replace it with the google contacts. This is even after we set the phone to read the 365 contacts and turn off the google ones. The calendar syncs fine however. Any ideas to solve this problem would be greatly appreciated. Gary
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this earlier. Did you ever solve it? I would clear the "local" contacts and turn off google sync as the first step.
Ben says
We used Akruto sync for about a year and it worked great. A recent update on the Samsung Galaxy 6 caused it to stop working. Syncs and then wipes out the phone on the next sync. One phone does not sync at all. They acknowledged that this is an issue but we have been waiting for over a month now for a fix. Disappointed with lack support.
Jack H says
My Outlook syncs just fine with my Android Galaxy but my calendar entries on my phone do not sync with my Outlook account. Emails do, any ideas?
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook on the desktop (with a pst or imap account) won't sync calendar & contacts to devices but outlook.com or Exchange server mailboxes will sync with both outlook desktop and devices.
If it is an outlook.com account, was the account moved to the new server yet?
Jack H says
Thank you! To be clear, if I alter my calendar from my desktop, it will sync with my phone calendar. However, if I alter the calendar from my phone it does not sync to my desktop calendar.
Meg S. says
Hi Diane, What would you recommend to get the calendar only on my laptop Outlook (365) to sync to my android phone (HTC One 8). I only need it to go in one direction -- from laptop to phone. Thank you SO much!!
Mike W says
I sycn with the gmail account that is the default for my phone using gSyncit. That way, outlook calendar syncs with Google and Google automatically syncs with my android.
Manfred says
Understand but for MyPhoneExplorer (which I basically used for calendar and contacts sync) doesn't work under Windows 10 - it apparently won't recognise the ports although the computer (in file explorer) can clearly see the phone as a drive etc. Just a bit of a timing pain. In terms of using Outlook.com I have set up our domain with a host of purpose specific emails so moving across is really not practical - I guess I could redirect everything and still send out indicating my domain as the reply to but it starts to get rather messy.
Manfred says
Thanks Dianne, bit of an "ouch" on the cost. While it is our domain it is not a commercial proposition. I thought with the move to windows 10 things would have got easier. Looks like I will just have to wait 'til the sync software people update for Windows 10. If I would have known I probably wouldn't have upgraded. C'est le vie.
Diane Poremsky says
Honestly, not much has changed with the sync capabilities - it's the same as before. Outlook.com accounts are free and will be moving to office 365 exchange - it's an ok experience now but will be better after the move. If you don't have an outlook.com account now, a small % of new accounts are created on the new servers currently; later this fall all new accounts will be on the new servers.
Manfred says
Hi Dianne, I have O365 with Outlook 2013 on my PC which was installed as standalone (because of the internet access costs where I was working but things have changed) I also have now installed Office on my Android as part of the licence. I am using my own domain and want a seamless experience. I can get the phone to pick up the emails as the mail accounts are IMAP but can't for the life of me find a way of accessing the same calendar. Have thought about moving the Outlook account as a whole into the cloud but can't find out how such a migration might be effected. Any help suggestions you can offer would be gratefully received.
Diane Poremsky says
When you use an imap account, you need to use a utility to sync with the phone or use outlook.com or an exchange account.
If you own your own domain, an office 365 business account with exchange online would be perfect. The calendar will sync to every computer and device you use. The cheapest plan is about $5/mo per mailbox. If you use general mailboxes for things like Sales or Support, they can be set up as free shared mailboxes - you'd only need paid mailboxes for yourself and other users.
The big difference between keeping imap and using outlook.com or paying for office 365 exchange is with imap/outlook.com, you'll have two data files, one for imap, one for outlook.com, where the calendar & contacts are. With office 365 exchange, everything is in one mailbox.
euric says
Hi Diane,
I configured the email (Exchange) of my boss on his new S6.Sending and receiving works fine. But i got an issue on the Sent Items. All sent items even the old once are syncing on his phone.
is there any chance you encounter this type of error?
thanks
Diane Poremsky says
How many days are you keeping synced on the phone? all folders will sync and if you set it to sync everything, all of the old stuff syncs too.
Mike W says
Hi Diane,
in order to deal with a high volume of spam, I recently set up a consolidation account in Gmail to grab email from 3 separate non-gmail email accounts. I set it up via gmail's "Check mail from other accounts (using POP3)" feature.
I still prefer to use Outlook so I set up Outlook with IMAP.
In gmail online, I am set up to automatically reply via the proper email address to which the original email was sent. However in Outlook, it is defaulting to reply from my "dummy" consolidation gmail account.
Is there any way to set up outlook to recognize which email address the email was sent to and have the reply's be sent from the account to which the original email was sent? Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
Code sample for a master account is here - https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/using-gmail-master-account-reply-using-correct-account/
Martin Gain says
Not so much a comment but a query and potential cry for help!
Why is it not possible to set preferences in ActiveSync prior to connecting my android phone or tablet?
It is not necessarily uniform that I wish to have them in complete sync. I may wish to have the opportunity sometimes to get the PC to over-ride the phone, but also vice versa. If I connect my wife's phone on, to update our contacts, she won't necessarily want or need my diary details. Not that there is any reason to be ashamed of what I am up to on any given occasion; after 54 years of marriage it is not a problem
Dan Liberman says
Office 365, of which I am a user, only supports the exchange account. Everything else is a connected account. This means it will sync to your phone but you will lose the identity of the incoming account. You can't automatically reply through the incoming account. Outlook handles these things as entirely separate and can't create a combined inbox, not even with search folders. These are major flaws in Microsoft's email capabilities and sadly far behind the rest of the world.
Diane Poremsky says
I usually recommend configuring individual accounts - most phones will display a unified inbox view and outlook has instant search if you want the unified view with imap accounts or put all the inboxes on the Favorite list in the mail navigation pane. Connected accounts in office 365 tend to stop working now and again.
Claudia Cargill says
I'm looking for a way to sync my Outlook calendar to the calendar on my android phone. I have been using googlecalendarsync for several years with success, but I got an email from them yesterday indicating that the service would cease on Aug 1, 2014. The Outlook calendar doesn't come through without a separate syncing app of some kind. Of course, free would be nice.
Diane Poremsky says
Someone else mentioned it but didn't say where they got the information. I wondered if they found an old google article about ActiveSync ending July 31 of a previous year. Thanks for letting me know.
Do you use google for email? If so, you can use one of the utilities that sync outlook to google. Outlook.com can sync, Companion Link (not free) is very good.If you own your own domain Office 365 hosted exchange is as little as $4 a month and it will sync great with phones and other computers.
mobileedit and myphoneexplorer work with the phone tethered to the computer. (Both are in the tools section).
Claudia Cargill says
I've looked into a lot of these, but I'm probably going to admit defeat and migrate to google calendar as my primary. It's totally up to date (current and past history) due to using the google calendar sync for years and the rest of this stuff is just too much trouble/expense for a personal calendar. It would be nice is Microsoft got the message and updated MS Outlook to be relevant in the current IT world, but it's probably too much to hope for.
Charlie C. says
Hi there,
I've been looking for some tips on how to UNSYNC ms exchange email folders from my samsung s4. My work email is connected to my personal phone and I get a lot of emails at work. So I'd like to be able to only see on my personal phone, emails that I get in my inbox. If I move them from my inbox, I don't need to see them so I don't need the folders to sync up with my personal phone. Is there a way I can delete or unsync folders in my cabinet in Outlook at work off my personal phone? The only options I get when go to settings-> folder sync settings-> and select a folders is: Sync schedule, Peak Schedule, Period to sync Email. Within these options, I don't even understand what the choices are. Currently they are all on manual and I dare not changing in case they open flood gates of emails coming into my phone.
Diane Poremsky says
Are you using the default android app? As far as i know you can't unsubscribe from Exchange folders, but they should only sync if you open them or if you enabled sync. Select the folder so it's open in the mail app and click the options button (3 dots here) - Screenshot: https://screencast.com/t/fy4y44RRUO
Charlie C. says
Hi Diane,
Thank you for your response. Yes, I am using the default app. I figured as much just wondered if I was missing something. will try to find a better app for my email!
Diane Poremsky says
I'm using touchdown (nice but pricy), but I didn't check to see if it lets you forcibly unsubscribe to a folder - I'm pretty sure it works like the default app in that mail only syncs if you request it, with the folder list available to view. You really can't avoid it.
Michael McCarthy says
Hi Diane. I have a Yahoo account set as POP to my Microsoft Outlook on my PC and also POP to my phone. I am a new to Android user and cant seem to get my HTC One to sync contacts and calendars bidirectionally between my phone (generic email) and my Microsoft Outlook (not exchange). Using the HTC Sync Manager will sync changes from my PC contacts or calendar to my phone, but will not sync changes on my phone contacts or calendar back to my PC.
Greg C. says
Thanks. That is why I was wondering if there was another app that people prefer for accessing gmail.
Diane Poremsky says
I recommend using imap in outlook and gsync it to sync calendar and contacts to outlook. Sync Gmail to the device -calendar and contacts will be in the calendar and contact apps, Gmail mail will be in the mail app.
Greg C. says
Maybe it's user error or not being familiar with the Gmail interface, but for me the new message is buried somewhere towards the bottom of a long thread, where each of the previous messages is shown in full, so you have to scroll through increasingly long repetitive old messages to get to the new message, which can also display the whole thread after it.
For example, if you've got five messages (A-E) in the thread, and each shows the history, it appears to me that the last message, E, is buried in a string of messages that looks like this: ABACBADCBAEDCBA.
It doesn't seem to display this mess all the time, but more often than not. Is there a configuration setting or user procedure that would, for example, but the new message at the top of the thread, like Outlook does?
Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
As far as I know, the android app doesn't allow you to change the sort order. I certainly can't find the a way to do it.
Greg C. says
Hi, Diane. I gave up on Exchange online because, after I started looking into the minimum investment and ongoing fees for a single user, it was much more expensive than I'd thought. However, I then tried gsyncit and it has worked flawlessly, doing exactly what I needed it to do. Thank you for your advice.
My only issue now is that I'm really struggling with the Gmail app for Android, which makes it very difficult to decipher a message that includes a new message buried in a long history of previous emails in the thread. I think this issue is exacerbated when the old messages have been read on different devices. Do you have any suggestions for either configuring the Gmail app or using a different email app?
Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
I don't have any suggestions, but I'm not familiar with any problems. In what way is the message difficult to decipher?
Lori says
Hello Diane. Do you know how to UNsync Microsoft Outlook 2010 from Samsung Galaxy Note 3? Since I did the sync, I can no longer see who I emailed as "bcc" in Outlook or my gmail account. And for work reasons, I need this information.
Thank you for your help!
Diane Poremsky says
You can remove the account from the phone to stop syncing. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to fix the view.
Are you using IMAP on both outlook and the phone? If you save sent items in a pst file instead of on the server, the BCC field will be preserved. You won't have Outlook's sent items accessible on the phone, but will have the bcc.
Per says
Cancel that, I just discovered the problem! There was an option in Calendar to select "default account" that I just found. Now the events are showing. :)
Diane Poremsky says
Thanks for the update, I'm sure it will help someone else in the future!
Per says
Hello Diane
I found this post while looking for an answer to my current problem. I had an HTC phone which synced my Outlook calendar from my desktop no probs. Last year I changed phones to a Sony Xperia and syncing to Outlook wasn't an option using their Sony PC Companion software (it just didn't work). However, I have since updated to Outlook 2007 (was 2003 before) and had a phone android software update, and now when I use Sony PC Companion it "says" it is syncing contacts and calendar. Outlook Contacts have definitely been added to the phone. Outlook Calendar? Well when I ran the sync I could see it working, it came up with conflicting appointments,and asked me to choose which one I wanted to keep, and at the end in the report it says that it has added new appointments.
That all sounds great except that
1. I have never added any appointments to the phone calendar so why would there be conflicts?
2. I can't find ANY appointments in the phone calendar! So where has it saved them?
Greg C. says
Hello, Diane, I'm reading all this with interest and hope you can provide a bit more of your excellent advice. Having recently left the corporate world with automatic Exchange-supported synchronization of my Outlook information on a PC with my iPad and Samsung S4, I'm looking to replicate that functionality (tracking mail, calendar, tasks and contacts).
I will continue to use Outlook, and my e-mail currently all flows through Gmail. I'm using Apple's mail app and the Gmail app on the S4, but am not averse to changing those. I've done a one-time contacts sync from Outlook to the mobile devices, but am not yet using the mobile calendars because of the lack of sync. It's the mobile calendar that I miss the most, but dynamic syncing of tasks and contacts would be very helpful also.
Gsyncit looks like a good app to accomplish what I need, but I've also discovered the option of Exchange Online. Exchange is more expensive, certainly, but I can't quite figure out if it would be a better solution or not. What are the pros and cons of each of these solutions?
That's a pretty general question, but any insights would be helpful. One specific concern does come to mind: if I accept a meeting request from a third party (meaning that I don't own the meeting), will that meeting be propogated amongst my three client devices using either or both solutions?
Finally, I'm using POP access to Gmail right now so that I can use Outlook as the master repository for viewing and filing e-mail. I could switch to IMAP but am concerned about "messing up" the "master view" in Outlook by cleaning out mail on the mobile devices. Any tips in this area would also be appreciated.
Thanks very much.
Diane Poremsky says
Re: POP3 in Outlook. I'd use IMAP and file in folders within the IMAP account if you need to file mail. IMAP wont delete mail from the server.
Exchange online: this is by far the best experience. It "just works". You can use multiple computers and have everything on each - views, rules etc - plus mail, calendar, contacts. It's not free and is best if you your domain name - you can suck gmail into the Exchange account, but replies will be on behalf of the gmail account.
If you don't own the email domain and don't want to invest in Exchange online, gysyncit, sync2, or companion link can sync gmail calendar and outlook. The benefit of these utilities is that it's a one-time expense.
Dan Liberman says
Touchdown only does exchange accounts. No imap or POP. The problem does seem to be in Outlook so I will try a Macro. If I could find a droid client that could handle exchange and imap/pop and still sync things besides email (tasks, calendar...) i would just eliminate the attached accounts and let outlook handle it on Windows and that droid client on android. - thanks very much.
Dan Liberman says
Hi Diane. i am a reader but never asked for help before. I have 3 different primary email accounts representing 3 business units. One is on Office 365 (the one I can control) and the others are attached accounts. I have been using Touchdown for sometime and it is ok. My real problem is with outlook 2010. Attached accounts come through but a reply goes out on the primary account with the wrong signature. i have created imap accounts for some of the attached in outlook but often forget to use them directly. It seems my only option is to eliminate the attached accounts and use imap to force myself into using the correct reply account. Touchdown, however, does not support anything but exchange. So 2 questions: 1) Is there an Android app that supports full sync with exchange (tasks, notes, calendar, email...) that I can use instead of touchdown? 2) is ther a better solution that I ma overlooking?
many thanks. - Dan
Diane Poremsky says
AFAIK, touchdown or OWA on the android. Is the reply problem in Outlook or on the driod? If in Outlook, can you use a macro? If so, a macro may set the correct reply account. It won't change the signature if the "attached accounts" are managed mailboxes since you can't assign signatures.
iftikhar says
Hi Diane
Thanks for your reply. Contacts were created on S4 have mapping problem but contacts which were created by outlook have no problem .
Please advise thanks
Diane Poremsky says
I'll see if i can repro the problem. I don't recall seeing complaints about this, but I can't imagine that it's a configuration problem on your end - it's not user configurable.
elanbuendia says
Thanks tons!!
It didn't 'look' exactly as you described, but because of your input, I was able to figure out what to do!
Thanks!
elanbuendia says
This is awesome info!
So, I have a hotmail email acct that is run via outlook and I use a Samsung S3.
My calendar in hotmail does not sync to my phone and vice versa, though my email does!
Am I missing something!?
Thanks for any help you can provide!
Best,
Diane Poremsky says
You're using the native Android app? Open the calendar app, click on the 3 dots on the left to open the menu, then choose Settings. Is the Hotmail account listed? If so, select it and verify the calendars are set to sync.
I have my outlook.com account configured in the Outlook.com app from Microsoft/Seven and the calendar & contacts sync.
Iftikhar says
Hi Diane
I need your help regarding sync anriod contacts with outlook 2007.I am using micrsoft exhange server email account with outlook 2007 and have problem with email address fromat when it is sync with outlook,then it changes to e.g. Smith("Smith" ) and I can't send email through outlook to this accountdue to change of format.But on anriod samsung glaxy S4 ,there is no problem for sending email & format remain same as abc@gmail.com.
Please advise how to fix. thanks
Diane Poremsky says
Was the contact created in outlook or on the S4? It looks like maybe the field mapping is bad.
AJ Karleton says
I have searched many time on the web, so I have decided to ask you directly, since your website and posts have regularly helped me with other office issues. I have Exchange email at work and use Outlook 2010. I recently upgraded to an Android phone, and I have been frustrated that the color of my calendar appointments doesn't sync (all the appointments are the same color). I'm not sure if this is an issue with how Android deals with the Exchange data or with what data Exchange sends for syncing, but is there any way to fix this? Or is there an app that would import the color data along with the date/time data? (If you know which company is at fault and could recommend a place to submit suggestions, I wouldn't mind that information too.)
Thanks for all the help you provide with MS products!
Diane Poremsky says
Color application is a feature of the app. Hmm. I have colors in the default calendar app. Oh, i bet those are free/busy colors. (I've only had my Android tablet a couple of weeks.)
I know the touchdown app syncs colors (although they are not matched automatically, purple in outlook is red in touchdown, but you can change the color). It's not cheap though. :(
AJ Karleton says
I'll take a look at Touchdown and see what that is like. My problem is probably that Android is doing the Google Calendar thing and making each calendar a different color, so all Outlook items come out in a single color. That's a flaw in my book (I don't want to create different calendars for class, meetings, etc., but do want them different colors), but at least I have access to my calendar, which I didn't have with my flip-phone As you mentioned, though, it sounds like "there's an app for that..." :o)
Diane Poremsky says
Yeah, it colors the events by calendar (I keep the calendar list hidden and didn't notice that). To be fair to google, it's a common practice when there are multiple calendars in one view. I agree with you on calendars - categories and one calendar is better, not separate calendars, but a lot of people insist on multiple calendars (and contact folders) to sort their life.
Gregory Peterson says
Our IT guy just synched up my Thunderbolt HTC Verizon with my Microsoft Outlook so that I can get my email, contacts and calendar on my phone. I had always kept a separate calendar on my phone and copied it onto the PC. Now I have double calendar items on my phone, but the real prpoblem is that the PC to phone works fine, but if i make an entry on the phone, it won't go to my Outlook on the PC when synched.
Diane Poremsky says
How are you syncing? Over the air with Exchange server? Does the phone have one calendar or separate calendars for each source? Are you creating the appointments in the correct calendar?
matt smith says
Forgot to mention my phonde is a samsung galaxy s4
matt smith says
Help!!
I have two email accounts one is a btinternet account which works fine, the other is an exchange account for work emails which worked fine for the first month then as a security procedure we have to change our password which i did but now i cant recieve emails on my phone!?! I can send them but not recieve ive taken my phone to my employers i.t dept and they are stumped. Im new to android i have switched from the iphone and now im frustrated. Does anyone have or come accross this problem before??
Diane Poremsky says
it's odd that you can send but not receive. I assume you changed your password on the phone? Do you need to use 2 factor authentication? If so, you need to use an app password, not the real password.
Did you try removing the account from the device and adding it back?
Carey Vandenberg (@CareyVandenberg) says
I am so amazed at how may times you have helped me out with the info on your site and your personal guidance Diane.
I just migrated from a BB Phone to Android and the MyPhoneExplorer is absolutely awesome. I was familiar with CompanionLink and had used it before but actually seems better.
I did have one problem with the desktop software not finding my phone via usb, wifi and bluetooth however going to the Developer options on the phone and allowing debugging fixed it.
Raymond says
I was looking for such informative article on syncing outlook with my smartphone, Finally i will be able to sync now.
Thanks,
Sue says
I use MS Exchange
Diane Poremsky says
If you go the menu and then Select folders, can you choose the other folders? If not you'll need to check the app store for a utility.
Sue says
I would like to sync my Outlook calendar subfolders (user-created calendars) to my Samsung Galaxy s4. My outlook default calendar syncs perfectly. However, my Samdung refuses to find the other 3 Outlook calendars (in the same account) that I use for my business. Is there an app that can sync multiple calendars from the same Outlook profile?
Diane Poremsky says
I'm not aware of any apps, but I don't use a Droid, and I'm not familiar with all of the software available for it.
What type of email account do you use?
Chuck says
All my contacts are consolidated to single contact folder on Outlook 2013 in a PST file where I consolidate all my POP accounts. (not Hotmail folder - Hotmail with IMAP shows up in a separate folder). The BCM syncs to the Outlook contacts folder (Not Hotmail).
Calendar is similar - it is an Outlook folder (not Hotmail).
Don't know if moving the contacts and calendar to Hotmail folder on Outlook will do the trick or if I will lose any significant functionality in terms of details and notes in the contact file (not even sure if BCM will even sync to a Hotmail contacts folder)
BCM tasks is another potential issue - not sure if they can be synced to Hotmail.
To work around the HTC Sync Manager issue, I have temporarily installed MyPhoneExplorer and that should get me through for now but not sure if it is a good long term solution.
Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
Companionlink can sync BCM with other services and they have a trial, so i recommend trying it. You will lose some functionality in hotmail - no attachments, no formatting in the notes field. One option is syncing outlook to a gmail account. You can create a gmail account for a personal address and use companion link to sync outlook to it, then sync the phone to gmail calendar. I have a gmail account for my own email address, which uses office 365 Exchange online - i use it to sync my calendar with the scheduleonce web service (which only syncs with gmail).
The other option, if you own your domain, is Exchange online. It's a much better experience for both syncing phones and using outlook on multiple computers, but costs $50-60/yr.
Chuck says
Thanks. Looks like the current solution I have (MyPhoneExplorer) is probably the best temp work around.
Exchange Online seems to be a well keep secret. Never heard of it before.Took a quick look and the hosted VM feature isn't bad either. May be a good long term solution. Will look at it in the future.
Chuck says
I have Outlook 2013 with BCM on Windows 8 and a HTC one phone. The HTC Sync Manager program is extremely buggy. While I prefer desktop sync, I would not mind going to some kind of cloud sync.
I have several POP accounts including Gmail and one IMAP account (Hotmail).
I really need to have seamless sync for Contacts and Calendar. Tasks sync is nice but not necessary.
How do you suggest that I proceed if I were to go to the cloud option?
How do you suggest I proceed if I were to stay with Desktop sync?
Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
Where are your calendar and contacts? Both Gmail and Hotmail should sync calendar and contacts directly with your phone. Hotmail calendar and contacts sync with outlook - gmail requires an addin to sync calendar and contacts. I use companionlink to sync calendar and contacts between outlook & gmail, but there are free/lower priced options for gmail sync.
Dorothy says
I have all my gmail and other e-mail forwarded to my Outlook e-mail. I would like to sync my 2007 outlook mail with my Galaxy S 111 and don't have any idea how?
Diane Poremsky says
Gmail is forwarded to Outlook email as in Outlook.com ? If so, you need to set the account up on the phone as a Hotmail account or Exchange account, if your phone doesn't have a separate setting for Outlook.com or Hotmail. Use m.hotmail.com as the server name.
Ginefra Fabio says
Hi,
Is it possible to syn Outlook tasks and/or notes without a 3rd party app?
If yes, how can it be done?
If no, what app would you recommend?
Kind regards,
Fabio Ginefra
Samsung Galaxy Y Pro GT-B5510 (Gingerbread 2.3.6).
Diane Poremsky says
Only if you use an Exchange server account (including Office 365) and only if your phone supports syncing notes. Some only support calendar, contacts, and tasks. I don't use a Droid so I'm not really the best person for recommendations, but the 3 listed on this page were recommended to me by many droid users. If I had a droid I would try MyPhoneExplorer first.
PAUL D. VESELY says
Dear Fabio , The solution is simple. Try Companion Link. The software is great. Mapping is identical. After leaving the Blackberry world I needed a way to transfer ALL my outlook information to my new phone Galaxy S3 . Companion link offers a variety of sync methods . I chose wifi method. No clouds , no issues. Easy set up. GREAT support from the folks at Companion Link . Live Tech support. Fast ! You might suspect I work for Companion Link but I assure you I don't. Just appreciate software that works as advertised and a very good company who supports their product.
I don't recognize your phone . Companion link lists all the phones it supports on their site so that should be easy.
Google mapping doesn't match outlook . Certain functions not available. I forget exactly which ones . Sorry .
Good luck