MVPs for Windows Phone 7: Syncing Outlook 2010 and Window Phone

Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Windows Phone MVP Trent McMurray as part of the MVP Award Program Blog's "MVPs for Windows Phone 7" series. Trent is the owner of LAMARCOMM, LLC, a
mobile solutions company that provides everything from Mobile Proximity
Application solutions to a National Online Retailer for all the major
wireless carriers in the United States. Trent was an early evangelist of the
Windows Mobile Platform helping customers and users with solutions and
applications for their Windows Mobile devices. Trent contributes to the
community through the Windows VIP forum and has recently taken on the project
of his newest website https://windowsphoneconcierge.com
. Which helps uses with "How To's" and FAQ's dedicated to Windows
Phone.

Being in the mobile retail business for over 10 yrs.,
helping customers and clients stay connected with their mobile devices became
the way I do business to this day. But things are changing swiftly in the
smartphone space. And when it comes to syncing with a Windows Phone, it’s a
brand new game! And when it comes to syncing Outlook 2010 with Windows Phone it
couldn’t get any easier! We all remember the days of active sync. Well when it
comes to Window s Phone there is no more active sync when syncing Outlook 2010
with your Windows Phone.

Syncing your Windows Phone with Outlook 2010 is as easy as
creating a Hotmail account and letting the “cloud” deliver your mail, and appointments
to your Windows Phone. But before your 
up and running you will need to stall Microsoft’s “Outlook Connector”
software, available here: 

https://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/microsoft-office-outlook-hotmail-connector-overview-HA010222518.aspx .

After installing the connector for Hotmail/Live, now you
simply just need to add the account to Outlook 2010. Basically these are the
steps needed to add the account and move on to have your mail and calendar sync
to your Windows Phone.

  1. You
    can add an account in Outlook by clicking “File,” the “Info” tab (if not
    already selected,) then clicking “+ Add Account”. Enter your information in the
    box that appears and click finish.
  2. Once the new live account is created its time to
    move your current contacts and calendar information into the new account. Go
    into Outlook Contact’s view and select all your contacts (Ctrl + A, will select
    all of the quick and easy.)
  3. Now
    select Move > Copy to Folder (you could also select “Other Folder,” but this
    would move the contacts rather than copy them. By copying them, we’re
    leaving a copy in the original folder in case something goes wrong. Which I
    have done before!)
  4. In
    the pop-up dialog box, expand your Hotmail/Live then select the Contacts folder
    under it and click “OK”.
  5. You can view the folder by selecting it in the
    left hand pane to verify your contacts were copied. Your Contacts will now sync to the Live/Hotmail
    account you created. And will be available in the Live web interface, the
    Windows Live Mail clients, or Windows Phones. Copying your Outlook
    Calendar data is pretty much the same, but requires an extra step to insure we get
    all of the Calendar information.
  6. Switch to your Calendar, and then select File
    > Change View > List View to show all of your Calendar items in a single
    list.
  7. Now, select all your calendar events.
  8. Remember to Copy them with Move > Copy to
    Folder.
  9. Select your Calendar folder under the
    Hotmail/Live Account, then click “Ok.
  10. Just like you checked your contacts after your
    copied them do the same in step 5 above to see that your calendar events have
    been copied.

Now that everything is setup the way you want it to be and it is all syncing
correctly and in orderyou can now make the Live folders the Default
Personal folders in Outlook, so that they are pre-selected each time you start
Outlook . (Optional – some choose this option some don’t)

  1. Select
    File > Info > Account Settings,
  2. Then, in the “Account Settings” pop-up box, select the
    Data Files tab, your Live account, and then “Set as Default”
  3. A dialog
    box will pop-up warning that you are changing the default folders. Select
    “OK” and restart Outlook.

Now
created your Windows Live account on your Windows Phone and your email and
contacts should begin to show up!

If you have Outlook installed on other PCs, like your laptop or netbook,
install the Outlook Connector and sign in to the Live account with those PCs,
and your Outlook data will sync between all of your connected PCs and
devices. If they don’t have Outlook, you can download the free Windows
Live Mail software for those PCs instead, and access your Outlook data on
them.
 

I
would like to thank my fellow Windows Phone MVP Todd A. who addressed this same
topic (with graphics and all) on my website
https://www.windowsphoneconcierge.com , where you can find many How-To’s and
FAQ’s for Windows Phone.