What is an Outlook Profile?

A profile is what Outlook uses to remember the email accounts established within it and the settings that tell Outlook where your email and other data is stored. A new profile is created automatically when you run Outlook for the first time. The created profile runs whenever you start Outlook. Most people generally only utilize one profile. However, sometimes you might find it useful to have more than one profile. For example, you might want one profile for work and another profile for home if you wish to keep that data fully separated. Also, if multiple people share the same computer as you, their accounts, settings and data can be kept in a separate profile that has a different name from your profile.

Note: You cannot toggle between profiles while Outlook is running. To change profiles, you must exit Outlook, and then select the appropriate profile when you restart Outlook.

Below, you will find steps to view and maintain profiles:

To access your Outlook profiles:

Windows Vista & 7

Click Start then Control Panel
If in Category View, Select User Accounts and Family Safety then select Mail (32-bit) 
If in Small or Large Icon view, select Mail (32-bit) 

Windows XP

Click Start then Control Panel
Select User Accounts then select Mail 

This will open the Mail Setup dialog box. You will select Show Profiles to access and manage your profiles

Outlook_Profile_-_Mail_Setup_Dialog.png

 

After selecting Show Profiles, a Mail dialog box will appear:

 Outlook_Profile_-_Profile_Dialog.png

Here you can do the following:

View existing profiles in the box below The following profiles are set up on this computer:

Add, remove or copy a profile

Choose preferences for when starting Outlook:

Prompt for a profile to be used (ideal for multiple profile users)

Always use this profile (default setting). When using this option, you would choose the profile in the drop-down box below the option. 

 

 

To create a new Profile:

Select Outlook_Profile_-_Add_Button.png and the New Profile Dialog box will appear. 

Type in the name of the newly created profile in the text box below Profile Name: then Select OK

Outlook_Profile_-_New_Profile_Dialog.png

After selecting OK, you will be prompted to add the email accounts for the newly created profile. 

 

Was this article helpful?
2 out of 2 found this helpful
Have more questions? Submit a request

Comments

Powered by Zendesk