changing default account on outlook

Catriona Sutherland-Hawes 1 Reputation point
2022-09-27T18:14:40.29+00:00

On my Windows 10 Laptop I have three accounts running through Outlook, my personal account (IMAP) and two work related accounts, both Exchange.

When I set Outlook up originally, the system automatically imported both my personal account and the business account that is currently the default account.

I need to make my IMAP personal account (including the calendar) the default in each case.

At the moment Outlook defaults to one of the Exchange accounts. It can only read that account's address book whichever of the three accounts I'm send from. For instance when I switch to my personal account it cannot find my personal address book.

In Account Settings, Data Files tab, I have tried to make the IMAP data files the default but I get an error message as follows:
"Outlook data files (.pst) cannot be used when more than one exchange account is configured"

How do I get past this?

Cheers

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business
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2 answers

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  1. Dillon Silzer 57,831 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-09-27T18:35:57.867+00:00

    Hi @Catriona Sutherland-Hawes

    The easiest way is to remove all three accounts and then choose the main mail account as the primary (set it up first).

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    If this is helpful please accept answer.


  2. Faery Fu-MSFT 19,751 Reputation points Moderator
    2022-09-30T02:54:46.477+00:00

    Hi @Catriona Sutherland-Hawes ,

    if I remove the three accounts will the information in the two Exchange accounts be lost, or does it work like IMAP? (obviously the IMAP data will be kept on the IMAP server)

    Exchange all data is stored on the server and synchronized to the local OST data file. Therefore, removing an Exchange account does not result in any data loss when it is deleted/re-added to the profile.

    What I mentioned, to create a new profile, you can follow the steps in this article: Create a Profile From Control Panel


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