Q&A: How do I move my Entourage settings to a new computer?

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I got a question via email this weekend:

I just got a new computer. How do I move my Entourage data to my new computer?

If you're an Exchange user and you don't have anything stored locally (rules, mailing list manager, mail stored in "On My Computer", etc), then all you need to do is install Office, point it at your Exchange server, and let it sync. But if you aren't an Exchange user, or if you do have stuff saved locally, then you'll need to move it over.

Assuming that you're not using your Mac's migration assistant [1], then the easiest way is as follows:

  1. On your new Mac, install Office 2008, and then let it download the service packs. When you're done, you will be (as of this writing) at 12.2.1.
  2. (Optional: If you're using Entourage for Web Services, download and install it after you've installed all of the Office 2008 service packs.
  3. On your old Mac, go to ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 Identities. There's probably a folder in there called Main Identity. If you have other folders in there, then open up Entourage on your old Mac to see which identity it's using; otherwise, grab this Main Identity folder and copy it to the same ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 Identities folder on your new computer (using a USB key, or MobileMe syncing, or Windows Live Sync, or something else of your own devising).
  4. Open Entourage, and bask in the glory of everything being there.

If, when you got your new Mac, you also bought a shiny new copy of Office 2008 and you were using Office 2004 on your old computer, then you've got a couple more things to do:

  1. On your new Mac, install Office 2008, and then let it download the service packs. When you're done, you will be (as of this writing) at 12.2.1.
  2. (Optional: If you're an Exchange user and you're on Exchange 2007 SP1 RU4 or later, you should use Entourage for Web Services. If you bought the new Office 2008 Business Edition, then it's on the second disc. Install this after you've updated Office 2008 to 12.2.1.)
  3. On your old Mac, go to ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 Identities. There's probably a file in there called Main Identity. If you have other folders in there, then open up Entourage on your old Mac to see which identity it's using; otherwise, grab this whole Main Identity folder and copy it to your new Mac's desktop somehow (using a USB key, or MobileMe syncing, or Windows Live Sync, or something else of your own devising). When I've done this in the past, I often rename the folder Main Identity from Office 2004 to reduce confusion later.
  4. Open Entourage 2008. During the initial set-up process, select the option to import from an old identity, and select the Main Identity from Office 2004 folder that you've saved on your desktop. Depending on how big your database is, importing your data from your old Entourage 2004 to your new Entourage 2008 identity might take a few minutes.
  5. After import, bask in the glory of the new version of Entourage, and delete the Main Identity from Office 2004 folder from your desktop.

[1] I have to admit that I never do this. I always reinstall everything. It's just part of the habit of buying a new computer: I partition the hard drive, reinstall the OS, move my user folder to the second partition of the hard drive, and then start installing apps and transferring my data.