How to setup Outlook after migrating your IMAP emails to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
This is final step in our 9 part guie on migrating your emails to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online.
If you have never used Outlook before on your computer then then next steps are straightforward. If you already have Outlook installed on your computer and were using it for your emails before the migration there are a few more things to do..
If Outlook is not installed on your computer
You will need to install Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook etc) apps on your computer:
1 Go to https://www.office.com/?auth=1
2 Click Install apps (top right corner)
3 Once installed, open Microsoft Word.
4 Accept the license agreement.
5 You may have to login with your Microsoft account
6 Choose OpenOffice XML.
7 Close Word.
8 Open Outlook.
9 Enter your email address
10 Enter your password
11 If you are prompted to setup Microsoft Authenticator do this now.
All your emails should be present.
Send a test email and reply to it. If all is working then job is complete.
If you already have your email address setup in Outlook
If you were using Outlook before the migration you might be getting an error saying it can't download emails or connect to the email server. This is normal because Outlook is trying connect to your old IMAP email server - eg. IONOS or 123-Reg etc.
Before we can setup Outlook with the new MIcrosoft 365 credentials so you can start sending and receiving emails again there are a few things we need to do.
Create backups of:
- Address book
- Autocomplete cache
- Calendar
The autocomplete cache is probably not a term you are familar with but you it something you used all the time and probably found very useful. When you start a new email and you start typing someones's name in the To field lots of names appear. This makes it easy to select and send an email to that person. This dropdown list is called the autocomplete cache. We will want to create a backup of it.
Export Adress Book
If you have an address book in Outlook then you will want to export them out. I recommend you export them as a CSV file and a PST file.
Full details on how to do this are provided in the following knowledge articles:
How to Export Contacts in Outlook as a CSV File
How to Export Contacts in Outlook as a PST File
Export Calendar
If you weren't using the calendar then you can skip this but otherwise follow the steps in this article.
How to Export Calendar in Outlook as a PST File
Autocomplete Cache
How to copy autocomplete cache in Outlook to new computer or new profile
Setting up Outlook with the new Microsoft 365 Exchange Online credentials
When setting up the new Microsoft 365 account in OUtlook I prefer to create a new Outlook profile. This way we can go back to the original emails if need be. It just adds another layer of peace of mind in case something has gone wrong.
1. Close Outlook, if it's already open.
2. Open the Windows Control Panel.
In the search box next to the Windows Start button type in Control Panel and then click Open.
3. Select View By: Small icons.
4. Select Mail (Microsoft Outlook).
5. Click Show Profiles.
6. Click Add.
7. Enter name - eg. M365.
8. Enter your name, email address and password.
9. Click Close
10. Change Profile to start Outlook with to the new profile you have created.
11. Click Close.
11. Start Outlook.
Outlook is now fully working with all your migrated emails. The next steps are to import your calendar, contacts and Autocomplete cache.
How to import your calendar
Go to File menu and click Open & Export and Import/export.
Select import from another program or file.
Click Next
Select Outlook Data File (*.pst)
Click Browse and choose the PST file you created ealier.
Click Next
Select Calender and click Import
How to import your Address Book
Go to File menu and click Open & Export and Import/export.
Select import from another program or file.
Click Next
Select Outlook Data File (*.pst)
Click Browse and choose the PST file you created ealier.
Click Next
Select Contacts and click Import
How to import the Autocomplete Cache