Eileen Brown's WebLog

How to set up and configure an Outlook email account

I get asked this question quite a lot, so I thought I'd blog about it.

Follow these steps to create a new e-mail profile in Outlook 2003:

1.	Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.	Click Switch to Classic View, and then double-click Mail.
3.	In the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles.
4.	On the General tab, click Prompt for a profile to be used, and then click Add.
5.	In the Profile Name box, type a descriptive name for the new e-mail profile, and then click OK.
6.	In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, click Add a new e-mail account, and then click Next.
7.	Click the appropriate server type for your new e-mail account, and then click Next.
8.	Type your account information in the required boxes, and then click Next.
9.	Click Finish, and then click OK.

Follow these steps to configure Outlook 2003 to start with a specific e-mail profile:

1.	Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.	Click Switch to Classic View, and then double-click Mail.
3.	On the General tab, click Always use this profile under When starting Microsoft Office Outlook, use this profile.
4.	In the Always use this profile list, click the profile that you want to use, and then click OK

 Follow these steps to configure Outlook 2003 to prompt you for a specific e-mail profile:

1.	Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.	Click Switch to Classic View, and then double-click Mail.
3.	In the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles.
4.	On the General tab, click Prompt for a profile to be used under When starting Microsoft Office Outlook, use this profile.
5.	Click OK

There is a Knowledge base (kb) article showing how to do this, with a link to Outlook 2002 kb article.