Outlook sharing

Question

Is it possible to use Outlook .pst file simultaneously by two or more user? Is there a way to share this .pst file?

Answer 1

No, it's not possible to share the same PST file.

You might want to use IMAP or Exchange Server

Answer 2

As always it depends.. :) SLaks is right - the .PST file gets locked by Outlook, so no two instances of Outlook can ever access it simultaneously. The fileformat just doesn't support it.

So, then, it depends - what are you looking to share? If it's email - you're probably out of luck, unless the server is IMAP, in which case email is kept on the server. If it's POP3, you can configure Outlook to leave messages on the server, so each time Outlook connects to the mailbox it downloads messages it doesn't know about.

If it's Contacts and Calender you want to share, you might look into MS Office Live Workplace - it's free, and it gives you shareable online contacts and calendar. Documents and such too.

For the full experience, Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite gives you really inexpensive Exchange accounts hosted in MS datacentres..

Answer 3

There are commercial solutions such as OSASync, but these do not support simultaneous sharing of one PST file. Outlook (and the file format) does not support it.

Answer 4

Although I think this question is best suited for SuperUser, I seem to recall a .pst file is exclusively locked by Outlook when opened and therefore cannot be shared.

Answer 5

To share the calendar, simply set up a Google calendar and sync to/from that calendar for all users. Simple, and you'll be able to access the calendar from anywhere with an internet connection.

For the contacts, we did the same using Google contacts but there's no auto feature so you'll need to re-sync once in a while. Contacts don't change as much as calendars, though, so it hasn't been a problem for us.