Mavericks sync Outlook 2011

Success using Microsoft Exchange online to sync Outlook 2011 contacts and calendar with iPhone.

I realize that this solution does not solve the problem of exposing one's data to the cloud but is is the ONLY way I have found to easily sync Outlook with my iPhone. Syncing through iCloud is not an option for me as I have no easy way to get my data from Outlook to Apple Contacts and Calendar given the absence of sync services in OSX Mavericks.

After spending about an hour on the telephone with Microsoft tech support yesterday, I succeeded in syncing Outlook 2011 contacts and calendar with my iPhone.

1. I signed up for a Microsoft Exchange (OnMicrosoft) account for $4/month.

2. I enabled that Onmicrosoft exchange account in Microsoft Outlook 2011 and on my iPhone.

3. After I set up the Onmicrosoft exchange account, the following folders appeared at the left bottom of my screen : Inbox, Drafts, Sent Items, Deleted Items and Junk Email under an OnMicrosoft heading.

4. I tested the syncing of email by sending a test email from Office 365 online to my regular email address. It showed up in my email AND in the sent folder under the OnMicrosoft heading in Outlook 2011 on my Mac.

5. Under Calender, Contacts, Tasks and Notes in Outlook 2011, there appeared the OnMicrosoft heading in addition to the On My Computer heading. The Calender, Contacts, Tasks and Notes folders under the On My Computer Heading were duplicated under the OnMicrosoft heading. These headings also showed up on my iPhone. Nevertheless, these new folders were blank, i.e. they contained no information.

6. Finally, and this is the key step, I copied the information from my On My Computer address book and Calendar to the OnMicrosoft folders on Outlook 2011. Then I unchecked the On My Computer folders, preventing myself from seeing duplicate contacts and calendar events in Outlook 2011. I did not erase the information in the On My Computer folders, as I wanted to retain duplicate information in case there was a problem with Microsoft Exchange. One small point is that Contact Groups cannot be copied to the OnMicrosoft folders.

7. Shortly thereafter my contacts and calendars on Outlook 2011 started showing up on my iPhone. As I did with Outlook 2011, I checked only the OnMicrosoft exchange folders on my iPhone so that I would not see duplicate contacts and events. By the way, I have almost 10,000 contacts, so the initial sync took an hour or so. I did not eliminate the existing events and contact on my iPhone in the case that some problem developed with the Microsoft Exchange syncing.

8. I hope that this explanation helps those who care about getting sync between Outlook 2011 and the iPhone to work.

I posted the above on another forum a few days ago. Since that time Microsoft Exchange has worked perfectly.

Thank you for posting this here. I appreciate it. I got 10x better "service" from you than I did from Apple and Microsoft combined.

You are most welcome. It is nice to know that, if all else fails, I may have a future in tech support. :-)

Thank you. And I will give it a try. Can you be a bit more explicit for someone as dumb as me!

1) Enabling onmicrosoft account in Outlook 2011 - presumably by adding an account, yes?

2) I dont use Office 365 since I have a perfectly good version of Office 2011. Can you forsee any problems?

3) How did you 'copy the information from my On My Computer address book and Calendar to the Onmicrosoft folders'? Sorry if this really simplistic!

4) Have you ever thought about running for Steve Balmer's job?

Thanks Robert.

I set up a Microsoft Exchange account as you suggested and after a lot of hair pulling, finally got everything to work. (Though it pains me to admit, the Microsoft Help Desk was extremely good and worked me through the set up very quickly. In 30 years of using Microsoft products, it was my first time in calling and I was impressed. Finding the right telephone number, however, was a pain!)

My only issue now, and I was wondering if this is just me, is that calendar meetings (ie where I either invited others or was invited) cannot be copied to the onmicrosoft folders. I presume they are somehow linked and therefore cannot be moved/copied. Have you run into this and if so, any suggestions?

This is a huge workaround but it works. It does not sync, but can transfer contacts from Address Book to Outlook 2011.

If you have an iOS device synced to Address Book on the Mac (i.e. containing all your contacts needed), you can alternatively use a Windows PC (or Parallels on yoru Mac) to export the contacts from the iPhone in CSV format.Then save the CSV file on a flash drive.

Back on the Mac, connect the flash drive and import the CSV contacts file to Outlook 2011.

Robert,

Hi, do you use the outlook.com email? It is pop I think so it won't work in Outlook 2011 will it?

This is scandalous. Like countless other people around the world, I have a Mac running outlook and an Android phone, and I can't sync contacts and calendar? Shame on Apple. I will probably return the Mac Air I bought last week.

I agree with you; it's not acceptable from APPLE.

And Microsoft OFFICE MAC 2011 continues to be sold for APPLE's Mavericks user with no possible synchronization.

All, I have found a thrid party App that works to Sync the contacts and caladar on Maverick...

https://github.com/yep/DeviceSync-for-OS-X/

it is not perfect but since it is so new (november 2013) I expect that it will get better... it works for me with my Iphone 5C and Macbook Pro... (normal USB cable)

Ted

it is not perfect

That's an understatement.

If by "not perfect" you mean it doesn't sync at all, then yes it is not perfect.

It just replaces the contacts and calendar events on your Mac with the ones on your iPhone. It would be bad news to think you were going to sync your contacts and calendars from your Mac onto your brand new iPhone/iPad.

All I can say is that at least it gives you something....

Since I refuse to give my data to Apple and thus the NSA or CIA or NRO (due to US property laws)

having any ability to transfer my data (even one way) is something that helps..

Ted

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6311

Hi,

Just one man's choice but I migrated to apple Mail. If anyone needs to convert pst or olm files to make the journey, check out pst converter pro and olm converter pro. Lovely products and personal support. No longer am part of the disadvantaged minority: Mac Office 2011 users.