Sync Outlook 2010 to iPhone 4S from rookie with new phone

[bonesb]

UPDATE: After downloading the new version--1.2.9, the native iPhone Calendar is still not syncing with DJO. Is this going to be coming with the next version? I really need this functionality, thanks.

Hey, I heard this just yesterday from one of my friends. I offered my help for a beer (Ninkasa Oatis - mmmm). He took me up on it, I took his iPhone from him, opened up the Calendar app and tapped the "Show All Calendars" button - his Outlook/DJO events weren't turned on to "show", closed the Calendars dialog, and there were his previously-hidden events in the Calendar app.

I got my Oatis.

 

[companionlink]

Hey, I heard this just yesterday from one of my friends. I offered my help for a beer (Ninkasa Oatis - mmmm). He took me up on it, I took his iPhone from him, opened up the Calendar app and tapped the "Show All Calendars" button - his Outlook/DJO events weren't turned on to "show", closed the Calendars dialog, and there were his previously-hidden events in the Calendar app.

I got my Oatis.

A good catch, thanks for suggesting it! @emjayess - I'd check this first. If that doesn't fix it, then definitely get in touch via Support.


- David

 

[emjayess]

Sorry, bonesb, but it didn't work. I called the CL support line per David's advice and they escalated it to Level 2 (or something like that). Haven't heard back, but hope this works or I'll have to switch from Windows to an iMac or something.....

 

[bonesb]

Sorry, bonesb, but it didn't work.

Well, bah, humbug. It was worth a shot...

I called the CL support line per David's advice and they escalated it to Level 2 (or something like that). Haven't heard back, but hope this works or I'll have to switch from Windows to an iMac or something.....

Bummed that there's a hitch there. If you do switch platforms you may not miss as much as some would think, I still use XP for apps (er, programs) that don't exist on the Mac but Apples have reduced my business costs too (like using Merlin for scheduling instead of Project - 97% of the ability at 30% of the license cost). Do give CL CS a shot, my friends are really happy with the product and Macs aren't perfect either... Good luck!

 

[emjayess]

Well, I did it: bought an iMac today.

Now I have a whole new set of problems! ("Nice problem to have, pal!")

Actually, I still need to migrate Outlook data to the Mac's native apps. If CL comes through and I can get DejaOffice to sync the calendar, then I'd be able to sync the iPhone native contacts and calendar to the iMac, yes?!

Otherwise, not sure of my next move....promises to be a long weekend, though....or two.

 

[Laelipoo]

I did a google search on how to transfer things from outlook to mail. I found this site: http://www.techhit.com/outlook/export_import_outlook_to_entourage_apple_mac_mail.html . It says it also does contacts and calendars. Might be worth looking into.


Beamed from a galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk!

 

[bonesb]

Listen to the lady! That's a good choice since you've thought about porting over to the Mac side.

Mail's a great app, supporting Exchange email as well as Outlook 2010/11.

iCal is two things - a calendar app and a calendar sync portal - OS X uses sync frameworks at the system level for Google and Yahoo, app-level sync for other types of calendar feeds in addition to the "On My Mac" (desktop) calendaring.

Address Book also has frameworks for Google and Yahoo calendaring, plus the ability to sync to feeds and "On My Mac" (desktop) contacts.

Now, there's one app you could consider that eats and converts Outlook 2010 PST files perfectly, but it isn't cheap - Outlook 2011. Outlook 2011 syncs IMAP/POP email very well, local calendars (that are also "seen" in iCal, but only as local items), and local contacts (that are also "seen" in Address Book, but only as local items) - and to Exchange servers (2007/10). MS hasn't allowed Outlook 2011 to talk to any other "one-stop shop".

If it helps, I'm using Outlook for business mail, Apple Mail for personal stuff, iCal/iCloud for both local/cloud calendaring, and Address Book for local cloud contacts, with the latter two having local copies synched to an iPhone for my business stuff, and iCloud to both of my iPhones for general stuff. I use a VPN for important work while I'm out in the field, and never use public WiFi (that's just me).

The app that your FF friend offered up is good stuff, about $50 I think. While not "free", it's about the same price as 10 minutes of therapy. Think about it, but not too long...

Oh, BTW, do try out MS Office - there's the 30-day trial to port over that PST file, and you might like Outlook 2011 too.

 

[emjayess]

bonesb,

O.K., I apologize, but I'm not following you. When you say "mail's a great app," do you mean the "Messagesave" product at the web site "TechHit" she mentioned? Apparently, it's on sale for $30.

I haven't tried anything yet and I've been putting strain on the brain trying to figure out the best procedure to try: All I want to do now is get my Outlook calendar, contacts and, if possible, tasks and notes from Outlook to the iMac native apps, including iCloud. I don't think I need Outlook on the iMac, but my future son-in-law has given me the "MS Office for Mac Standard 2011" disc to use as well as 2008 (but we're not sure which key he's got or if he has both), but maybe it would be handy....?

If you wouldn't mind, please walk me through the steps you recommend that would cause the fewest sessions of therapy in the long run. Don't mind paying another $30 if it does what I need to do before Monday and the work week comes flyin' at me.

Thanks!

EDIT: O.K., here's where things are at: I uninstalled iCloud on the PC. I reinstalled it and sent my Calendar, all Contacts (and subfolders), and Tasks to the Cloud. (I guess I'll trust Apple--the guys at the store said not to worry, and I don't know what else to do.)

Now my Mac Calendar has all the appointments, but they're not in categories, of course. And I still haven't figured out how to make categories or move anything around.

Contacts looks snafu-ed: my default Contacts folder has ALL the contacts. The original had contacts that were not in any subfolder, so I guess I have to separate everyone.

And don't even talk to me about the Mail client! What a mess! Should prove an interesting week....

 

[bonesb]

bonesb,

O.K., I apologize, but I'm not following you. When you say "mail's a great app," do you mean the "Messagesave" product at the web site "TechHit" she mentioned? Apparently, it's on sale for $30.

I haven't tried anything yet and I've been putting strain on the brain trying to figure out the best procedure to try: All I want to do now is get my Outlook calendar, contacts and, if possible, tasks and notes from Outlook to the iMac native apps, including iCloud. I don't think I need Outlook on the iMac, but my future son-in-law has given me the "MS Office for Mac Standard 2011" disc to use as well as 2008 (but we're not sure which key he's got or if he has both), but maybe it would be handy....?

If you wouldn't mind, please walk me through the steps you recommend that would cause the fewest sessions of therapy in the long run. Don't mind paying another $30 if it does what I need to do before Monday and the work week comes flyin' at me.

Thanks!

EDIT: O.K., here's where things are at: I uninstalled iCloud on the PC. I reinstalled it and sent my Calendar, all Contacts (and subfolders), and Tasks to the Cloud. (I guess I'll trust Apple--the guys at the store said not to worry, and I don't know what else to do.)

Now my Mac Calendar has all the appointments, but they're not in categories, of course. And I still haven't figured out how to make categories or move anything around.

Contacts looks snafu-ed: my default Contacts folder has ALL the contacts. The original had contacts that were not in any subfolder, so I guess I have to separate everyone.

And don't even talk to me about the Mail client! What a mess! Should prove an interesting week....

Just to clarify, I wrote "Mail's a great app", not "mail's a great app" - I was alluding to Apple Mail, which wasn't so bad once I because used to it. You've been at it for a day or so, it's just different than Outlook; I use (Apple) Mail and Outlook simultaneously, I'm just used to each and both of them now and their limitations and benefits. If you're wondering about benefits for Apple Mail I was very interested in its use of MBOX files - separated files for each message and their attachments, both indexable and searchable by other applications (including OS X's Spotlight), and getting away from the PST file format - which the new Mac Outlook does as well.

As for the Messagesave app, it's essentially a migration tool or converter, allowing those on the Windows Outlook "platform" to separate out the Outlook PST file into its components so that they can be read by Mac apps (and for archiving).

As for Entourage, don't do it. I was a user of Entourage, and it was a great app at the time, but MS has moved on from it with Outlook. If you're on a new Mac you're running Lion (OS X 10.7, which I'm on), and there's things that work and things that don't work in Entourage in Lion. The Standard Office version doesn't include Outlook, and MS doesn't sell Outlook 2011 separately. There's lots of holiday deals for MS Office for the Mac, keep your eyes open and you should find one. There's also the possibility for a cross grade - I got in touch with MS via their web site and converted a Pro Office CAL (client access license) to an Office 2011 license at no charge about 4-5 months ago.

In iCal, a "Calendar" is the equivalent of a "Category" in Outlook. You'll figure it out, I'm sure. Apple uses CalDAV where Outlook uses Exchange MAPI. Wiki it and you'll see the difference. CalDAV allows for features that are different than Exchange, like multiple alerts - which I like a lot, and can be read by other applications that support CalDAV, a generally-open "standard". CalDAV is open, Exchange is not and expensive to license.

As for Address Book, the contacts app, it's also an acquired taste. Apple appends the CardDAV open standard, Outlook utilizes of course uses Exchange.

iCal, Mail, and Address Book support many standards and server-based portals - Outlook doesn't. iCal and Address Book also have extensible system-served frameworks for Yahoo and Google, plus their own app-based support for Exchange 2007/10 servers.

I'd offer that you make an appointment with an Apple Store Genius Bar if you're near an Apple Store and/or check out their seminars for a new Mac owner. Hey, I just helped an 83-year old Irish friend of my mom's get up and running as a convert from XP - if Phyl can do it, so can you!

 

[emjayess]

Well, I bought the Messagsave converter and it worked well for contacts and ALL my e-mails! I've got some work to do with folders in both apps, but the main, everyday folders are set.

BUT: the Calendar is still a question mark as of this writing. I tried to import that last, and iCal is still trying to figure it out after 2 hours. I just restarted and iCal is back at its atempt to import. I want it to just stop, but I don't know how to kill an app on a Mac.

Will try to do so right now--wish me luck in getting my Calendar ready for work tomorrow--not to mention syncing my iPhone which right now has nothing in Calendar and Contacts!

 

[bonesb]

Cool, make sure you give laelipoo (so much fun just typing that...) some props. Me too for the long posts!

Take some time to allow the iCal app (Windows-program/Mac or iPhone-app) some time to work, especially if you've a significant number of events to port in and/or you're importing over the internet. Apple does a lot of maintenance on Sundays in my experience, so be patient. For Mac apps, the command is called "Force Quit" - find the icon in the Dock and right-click or Control-click (for the southpaws), then hold down the Option key and you'll see the menu change from Quit to Force Quit, or press the "Option-Command-Escape" key combination to bring up a dialog similar to the Task Manager - the Force Quit dialog will show you whether an app is "Not Responding", and selecting any app will give you an option to Force Quit it. That'll kill about any Mac app.

If you don't see "Not Responding" in red in the Force Quit dialog, the app in question is likely just doing its thing. The Activity Monitor app (in the Utilities folder/subdirectory) will show you what processes (applications) are running and which resources are being used (RAM/CPU/etc.) - and the Force Quit command is available in the Activity Monitor app too. Activity Monitor is pretty much exactly what the Task Manager offers.

There is one cool bit about the CalDAV file format, so many other apps will import or open the files which is why I like the CalDAV format.

Over and out for now. Good luck with your new Mac.

 

[emjayess]

Update: all is well. Here are some details.

Yes, I tried Force Quit multiple times--including from the Terminal command. No go.

I eventually took the machine into the store where I purchased it: FirstTech in Minneapolis (a partner with Apple for over 33 years; longer than any other Apple Reseller in the world!). The tech support was amazing and they got iCal to clear--the little wheel wouldn't quit for me. The calendar was full of multiple entries, buy now I had a blank calendar to take home.

Alas, when I imported the truncated version of my calendar (only about 18 months worth instead of about 8 years or so), I still got the multiple entries of events. So I called the developer of MessageSave at TechHit and he did his best to fix this by taking over my Mac and working away. But he came away stumped (at this point, I was really feeling some Windows deja vu and wondering if I had, in fact, drunk the Apple Kool-aid and got duped--was the "just works" hype just a myth, after all?!).

But after some desperate google time, I found my savior: "iCal Dupe Deleter."

iCal Dupe Deleter | nhoj.co.uk

This free software worked like a charm to get rid of all the copies of events--about 5000!--in minutes.

So all is well with my new Mac and iPhone, and I thank everyone who responded to this thread and tried to help--including, yes, laelipoo!

Next up: migrating all my files.....

 

[bonesb]

But after some desperate google time, I found my savior: "iCal Dupe Deleter."

Next up: migrating all my files.....

Good to read that John Maisey is still at it with his Applescripts, I recall turning on other to that same script maybe 4 or so years ago. I pestered my friends into donating to John, now it's your turn to get some peer pressure!!!

And FirstTech - I'd been to the Twin Cities about 14 years ago with some friends on my way to London and saw their store during my day kicking around. Cool, they're still up and running.

Just take your time with importing, and good luck!

 

[emjayess]

Oh, yes, trust me: I donated to Mr. Maisey immediately after he saved the day!

Importing is going well so far, but I've got a lot to learn about how to find things and also change settings so I can get to things as quickly as I did in Windows 7. I really had it tweaked out and I could navigate around at lightening speed.

 

[static|divide]

Son of a mother... There went my very long post (the only kind that I write) -- I really need to get that extension that saves your form data in case you do whatever i just hit to navigate away from my page. Not re-doing that! Be thankful, truly... haha. Carry on!

 

[emjayess]

O.K., time for a new post for a new problem...

Since going all-in with Apple and syncing the iMac to the iPhone 4S via iCloud, I've started to notice that not all my contacts (that were imported from Outlook) made the trip.

As I try to look people up on the iPhone, I discover they're not included (and not on iCloud). They do exist on the iMac, however; I try to modify and save the contact to see if that allows a sync, and that seems to be hit-or-miss. The contacts that are missing don't seem to have a pattern to their absence.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get iCloud to recognize all my contacts? I have only two categories of contacts: the default "All Contacts" and a shorter list, "Main Contacts."

Thanks!

 

[bonesb]

O.K., time for a new post for a new problem...

Since going all-in with Apple and syncing the iMac to the iPhone 4S via iCloud, I've started to notice that not all my contacts (that were imported from Outlook) made the trip.

As I try to look people up on the iPhone, I discover they're not included (and not on iCloud). They do exist on the iMac, however; I try to modify and save the contact to see if that allows a sync, and that seems to be hit-or-miss. The contacts that are missing don't seem to have a pattern to their absence.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get iCloud to recognize all my contacts? I have only two categories of contacts: the default "All Contacts" and a shorter list, "Main Contacts."

Thanks!

I'll give it a shot. I'm surmising that you're moving partly to the iCloud cloud space - a break from your local-only synching.'

Open your Address Book app and navigate to the "Groups" View (Command-3), and I'll bet you see something like "All Contacts" and "My Contacts". All Contacts is just that, and I'm surmising that the "My Contacts" is your import from Outlook?

Keep in mind that the Address Book isn't just an application but also a sync portal/framework for connecting your Mac to cloud spaces. Look on your iPhone, check to see what Groups appear in the Contacts app (yes, I wish Apple used uniform naming conventions across platforms...) - you might see the "My Contacts" Group in there as well. The key here is to look for the same Group that appears in your Address Book AND you iPhone - it's that group that's being synched between devices. The Address Book app maintains a local copy of contacts and syncs contacts with cloud spaces simultaneously - "All Contacts" is just that (duh), an aggregate of both local and cloud-based copies.

Some of my Mac-based contacts aren't synced by choice - I use the Groups View to manage contacts across shared servers, iPhones, a couple of cloud portals, and my main Mac - the Mac and each of the cloud portals and servers are all shown in the Groups View of Address Book, and I manage who gets what from the All Contacts or local copy.

I'm surmising that it's your Main Contacts Group that's getting synced to your iPhone, a subset of the All Contacts Group on your new Mac. Simply manage what gets synced by drag-and-drop, you'll get the hang of it PDQ.

 

[emjayess]

Thanks!

Here's what I did earlier today: one contact that just wouldn't be synced no matter what I did, well, I just recreated it and it synced immediately. Deleted the old one. Tedious, though, and who knows how many other contacts are not syncing?!

The "Main Contacts" group was my attempt to create a a group for syncing to the iPhone. I thought the "All Contacts" group would not. Oops!

So I deleted the Main Contacts group. I have no idea what happened to all the subgroups of contacts I had in Outlook--I guess I didn't import them. These are categories I do not want to sync, so I guess I'll have to try to import them from the original .pst file of all Outlook data and figure out how to recreate those subfolders in Address Book on the iMac without having them sync.

And so it goes with the Great Migration of 2011...

Say, anyone know how to increase the font size when you're writing a new e-mail in Mail?! [Command +] works for other emails, but not new drafts. REally annoying.

And how do you navigate quickly from word to word in a sentence--control/command with an arrow key doesn't work like in Windows.

And what about manually making the screen go black without putting it to sleep (so i can still listen to meditation music on headphones but in the dark etc.).

But I digress...

Thanks!

EDIT: O.K., I just went into preferences (little slow on the uptake with a Mac still...) and saw the accounts section. There is the iCloud account and a "On My Mac" area. But I can't figure out how to get the On My Mac to show up in the address book and how to add an (local only) account. When I try, it asks for a server address...Wha?! If I'm not syncing to another server such as Yahoo or Google, why is it asking me? A google search hasn't helped...yet.

 

[bonesb]

About ready to check out for the night, thought I'd check in.

About your Address Book, what you're calling subfolders (I'm guessing) are called Groups in the Address Book App. These "groups" are really more like collections of aliases or shortcuts - removing a contact in one of your groups doesn't remove the actual contact, and you can have a contact (or several contacts) in each of multiple Groups - think of Groups in Address Book like you would a Playlist in iTunes, deleting a song from a playlist doesn't remove the file from your music library, and any song can be included in one or more playlists - you read this analogy here first, just made it up.

In your Main Contacts, pick a few or all of the contacts that you'd want to put in a new Group - use the Command Key while you're clicking to select multiple non-contiguous contacts. Then, with the selection active, choose the "New Group From Selection..." Command in the File Menu. Voila - a New Group (to be renamed) with the contacts you selected.

As for your Mail font question, there's no means to accomplish what you're seeking that I'm aware of. My workaround is to use TextEdit, the Mac text editor that ships with each Mac, then compose my text in a window, using that keyboard shortcut Command-+ to adjust the reading font. When I'm done, I copy the text but use the Paste and Match Style Command in a new Mail message window. The bonus with Lion and several apps (including TextEdit) is the new autosave feature - the Oh-****-I-Didn't-Mean-To-Quit command is a thing of the past - TextEdit saves the current state when quitting now.

About moving about in a document, you'll need to read up about "Carbon" (a transitionary Intel/PowerPC compatibility environment in the Mac OS) and "Cocoa" (the native Mac OS environment). Lion ditched "Rosetta", yet another compatibility environment (PowerPC).

Cocoa apps are the native Mac apps, and a lot of newer ones. Cocoa apps tend to follow a generally-standard set of shortcuts - the one you're looking for is the Option Key to move about. Carbon apps may not follow Apple's plans. Then, there's MS Office - let's not go there.

Check this out: Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts

As for the "On My Mac" account, that's the local repository/database of contacts, I've never seen it any other way on a Lion OS Mac. Honestly, I'm not too keen on the navigation metaphor of the Lion Address Book - it's quite different than years past. I see "All Contacts" and "On My Mac" and each account I have in the "Groups" view (Command-3) - the names of groups on the left "page" are hyperlinks - used to navigate to that particular group. Or, select (but don't double-click) a Group then click on the red "tab" at the top of the Address Book window to navigate to the details of the contacts within that Group you selected.

OK, time for Leno...

 

[Fgardhome]

Wow, Bones, you sound an awful lot like a friend of mine, 6,7 250 plus and very very good at this stuff.

Ever see Kung Fu Panda, "is there a level zero?" Now there is...Me

As a very simple user with limited interest and time, I want:
To migrate from a Sony Ericsson, to an Iphone 4s, while syncing my contacts and deciding on a method to keep them secure, organized and backed up
To decide on a platform that allows me to use my Outlook 2010 and an Iphone 4s for my contacts ect... - OR to move to a new system - software - whatever that does not require my constant re-education just to find my phone numbers every time I upgrade my cell phone or operating software/ PC etc...