Microsoft Outlook Configuration Standards
System Requirements
Hardware Specifications:
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Minimum: Meet the Microsoft 365 minimum hardware specs
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Recommended:
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Hard Drive: Use solid state drive
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RAM: At least 8GB
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CPU: 4 cores
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OS Specifications:
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Currently supported Version of the OS with latest updates
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Update settings should be set to receive updates for Microsoft products
Microsoft Outlook Client Requirements
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Must use currently supported version of: Outlook Web App, Outlook Desktop App, Outlook for Mobile, and any associated Add-Ins. (64-bit version of Outlook when possible)
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Mailbox co-managers need to use the same application version and operating system as the mailbox owner.
Permissions
Mailbox Permissions:
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It is recommended to use Full Mailbox and Send As rights instead of Delegating permissions.
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Customers with Full Mailbox rights should not have permissions set on folders.
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Those with Send As permission to a mailbox will not have the Send on Behalf permission.
Calendar Permissions:
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Those that have delegate or owner permissions to a calendar need to open the calendar using the Add Calendar option.
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The setting Turn on Shared Calendar Improvements should be enabled. This option will synchronize a copy of the shared calendar to the user’s mailbox and will show under Shared Calendars.
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If a user has full mailbox rights to a mailbox, they should not have permissions set on the calendar itself. No one should have the calendar listed under both “My Calendars” and “Shared Calendars”
Configuration
Outlook Client Standards:
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Cached Exchange Mode
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Microsoft recommends cached exchange mode for most users.
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Users that manage multiple calendars, synchronize a large mailbox, synchronize multiple mailboxes or use Send As rights to send email as another account should turn cached mode off.
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Set Download Shared Folders to Off
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Set Turn on Shared Calendar Improvements to Enable
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PST files should not be used from any file server. This can cause outlook performance issues and file server / backup performance issues
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Remove all unneeded mapped mailboxes and calendars
Mailbox Folder Limits:
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Mailboxes need to have fewer than 10000 folders
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Mailboxes need to have fewer than 100000 items per folder
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Calendars need to have fewer than 5000 items
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If any of these are over the limits, then we recommend archiving more regularly to get these items under the limits.
Online Archiving:
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Folders will inherit the default policy settings but can be changed per folder if needed.
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Set folders that are not needed to a shorter archive time policy.
Calendar Use Standards
Meeting Requests:
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Only one person should process meeting requests. Avoid processing the same meeting invite on multiple computers or devices running different versions of Outlook.
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Do not move a meeting request from your Inbox to a different folder before you Accept/Decline meeting using the meeting request in the inbox.
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Do not delete a meeting request on one client after you accept the same meeting request on another client.
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Do not interact with a meeting request after it has been processed.
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Reserve all Resource Rooms as a Room location or Resource attendee.
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Do not use third-party email clients to process calendar items.
Forwarding Meetings:
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Do not forward meeting requests if you are not the meeting organizer. The meeting attendee list could become out of date for other attendees.
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Tracking may not work properly for the forwarded users.
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The Meeting Organizer can send the attendance list to all attendees by sending a meeting update to all attendees.
Meeting Edits:
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Do not modify the meeting item if you are not the meeting organizer.
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Do not move an already-accepted meeting to another time on your calendar. If you do, your changes may be lost, or the meeting may become corrupted on your calendar.
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If you cancel, update, or delete a meeting, send the meeting update to everyone.
Recurring Meetings:
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Do not use recurring meetings if frequent modifications need to be made to those future meetings.
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Do not set recurring meetings to be indefinite endings.
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If the meeting is more than once a month, then it should not be more than 1 year.
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If the meeting is monthly, then no more than 5 years.
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If the meeting is yearly, then no more than 10 years.
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To change an entire series of meetings, cancel the original meeting and create a new one.