From the Outlook for Mac forum on Microsoft Answers:
How do I switch identities in Outlook 2011 for Mac?
Is there a way I can get the old configuration back of just automatically having the option to choose which identity I want to use when I click on Outlook? The identity box that comes up does not have the option to always make it appear, so I am unsure what is wrong here. Any help?
Outlook for Mac still retains the ability to allow selecting an identity when launching the application. Enabling it requires a few simple steps to set the preference.
- Quit Outlook for Mac and any other Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 applications (Excel, My Day, PowerPoint and Word).
- Open the Activity Monitor application found in
/Applications/Utilities. - In Activity Monitor’s Search field enter Microsoft and tap the
returnkey. This will display only Microsoft processes still running. - Select each process (in particular the Microsoft Database Daemon process) and click the Quit Process button at the top of the Activity Monitor window.
- Quit Activity Monitor.
- In the Finder hold the Option key and select Go menu –> Library. This will open the hidden
Libraryfolder in the home folder. - Within the
Libraryfolder locate the Outlook Preferences file inApplication Support/Microsoft/Office/Preferences/Office 2011/and move it to the Trash. - Launch Outlook. It will now display a dialog box to choose an identity.
- Select the option Show this list when opening Outlook at the bottom of the window.
Microsoft deprecated the identities feature in Outlook for Mac 2011. Some folks, however, still rely on being able to use multiple identities to keep email data separate or for testing purposes. Although the feature was prominent in Outlook’s predecessor Entourage, it’s now slated to go away in a future version of Office for Mac.
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Thanks for this, I provided me with exactly the information I needed
It is a pity that this has been deprecated and will not available in future versions. Having separate identities is essential for my business. It is a shame that I will have to go back to Windows in the future to be able to get this.
Regards
Petra
I personally don’t use multiple identities but can understand why people want it.
Don’t take the fact that it’s deprecated to mean it’s going away in the very next version. Microsoft often deprecates things a few versions ahead (at least for Windows) and could very well be persuaded to keep the feature if enough folks demand it. Please be sure to let Microsoft know you’d like to keep this feature in future versions by using the Help –> Send Feedback mechanism in any Office application.
Thanks for this post. I’ve been looking for the solution to my problem and I finally found it here. I did have to do a few tries to get it right.
I tried this but possibly Office 2011 has changed where the folders are located.
When I get to Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Preferences/Office 2011/
My options are-
Application Support/Microsoft/Office/14.0 or user templates
Can you help me? I really need to access my old identity.
Thanks,
Pam
You need to update your Office software. Microsoft did change location settings around version 14.2.0. I believe you must be running something earlier.
In Outlook, select Help menu –> Check for Updates and install all available updates. After updating launch Outlook then try to locate the preference file again.