If you use Outlook 2016 for Mac in more than one capacity, such as for your personal life and for work, you can set up Outlook to handle these different capacities by using profiles. A profile is associated with and stores a set of email messages, contacts, tasks, calendars, account settings, Scrapbook clips, and more.
Note: In Outlook 2011 for Mac, profiles were called identities.
The Outlook Profile Manager (previously called the Microsoft Database Utility) is installed as part of your Office installation, and it allows you to create new profiles, edit or delete profiles, and set your default profile. When you open Outlook, it always uses the default profile.
Important: If more than one person uses the same computer, Outlook profiles don't offer as much privacy as separate user accounts in the Mac OS. Outlook profiles don't offer password protection, and Spotlight searches from the Finder will locate Outlook items from all the profiles in the current user account. To learn more about how to create user accounts, see Mac Help.
Add, change, or delete a profile
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From Finder, open the Applications folder.
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Ctrl+click or right-click Microsoft Outlook, and then select Show Package Contents.
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Open Contents > SharedSupport, and then launch Outlook Profile Manager.
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Do one of the following:
To
Do this
Create a new profile
Select the Create a new profile button
, and then enter a name for the new profile.Rename a profile
Double-click the profile, and then enter a new name for the profile.
Delete a profile
Select the profile that you want to remove, and then choose the Delete the selected profile button
.Change the default profile
Highlight the profile that you want, access Set the default profile
, and choose Set as Default. Restart Outlook for this change to take effect.
Note: After importing identities from Outlook for Mac 2011 to Outlook 2016 for Mac for Microsoft 365, if you receive the error message, "Your identity cannot be imported as you do not have sufficient permissions on your 2011 identity.", see the KB article, Outlook for Mac for Microsoft 365 – Permission error while Importing an Outlook 2011 Identity.
Important:
Office for Mac 2011 is no longer supported. Upgrade to Microsoft 365 to work anywhere from any device and continue to receive support.
Upgrade now
If you use Outlook in more than one capacity, such as for your personal life and for work, Outlook can be set up to handle these different capacities by using identities. An identity is associated with and stores a set of e-mail messages, contacts, tasks, calendars, account settings, Scrapbook clips, and more.
To manage identities, you must use the Microsoft Database Utility, which is installed as part of your Office installation. With this utility, you perform tasks such as creating a new identity, setting the default identity, and rebuilding an identity. When you open an Office application, it always uses the default identity.
Important: If more than one person uses the same computer, Outlook identities don't offer as much privacy as separate user accounts in the Mac OS. Outlook identities don't offer password protection, and Spotlight searches from the Finder will locate Outlook items from all the identities in the current user account. To learn more about how to create user accounts, see Mac OS Help.
Create, rename, or delete an identity
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Open the Microsoft Database Utility.
The default location is in /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/.
Tip: You can also open the Database Utility if you close Outlook, hold down the OPTION key, and then click the Outlook icon in the Dock.
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Do one of the following:
|
To |
Do this |
|---|---|
|
Create a new identity |
Click Add |
|
Rename an identity |
Double-click the identity, and then type a new name for the identity. |
|
Delete an identity |
Click the identity that you want to remove, and then click Delete |
Notes:
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The data for each identity is stored in a separate folder in /Users/ username/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2011 Identities/.
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schedules only run for the default identity.
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For a list of problems that may indicate that the database of an identity database is damaged, see About the Office database
Switch the identity used by Outlook
In Entourage (available in previous versions of Office for Mac), it is possible to switch identities while Entourage is open. However, with Outlook, you must close Outlook and switch identities by using the Database Utility.
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Close Outlook.
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Open the Microsoft Database Utility.
The default location is in /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/.
Tip: You can also open the Database Utility if you close Outlook, hold down the OPTION key, and then click the Outlook icon in the Dock.
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Click the identity that you want, click Action
, and then click Set as Default. -
Open Outlook.
Notes:
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If you want to switch identities frequently, you can leave the Database Utility open while Outlook is open. However, you must always close Outlook to switch identities.
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schedules only run for the default identity.
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