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Outlook Net Folders
Author: Simon Butler, Exchange MVP, MCSE

Outlook 98 introduced and Outlook 2000 improved a new feature called Net Folders - available in "Internet Mail Only" (IMO) mode. The feature was removed in Outlook 2002 (aka Outlook XP) and later versions.

This feature allows you to share certain folders in Outlook with other Outlook users across the Internet, without the use of an MS Exchange server. However this does not mean that you must use the Internet to share the folders. If you are using a local email server on a corporate network that works using Internet based protocols (POP3 and SMTP) then you can share the folders over your local system. You can share the folders with more than one person, with each person having different rights on that information.
This feature is not compatible with an Outlook client that is connected to an Exchange server.

If you are looking for an alternative that is compatible with Outlook 2002/2003, then please see the end of this page.

About Net Folders
Initial Configuration
Troubleshooting

About Net Folders

How does it work?

Net folders uses email to send the contents of a pre-selected folder from the owner (host) to other users (subscribers). These subscribers, if granted permissions to do so,can make modifications to these folders which return to the host Outlook, also via email. The subscribers can be on the other side of the office or the other side of the world from the host as it uses standard internet type emails to move the data around. It does not require a MS Exchange Server and cannot be used with IMAP servers.

Enabling Net Folders

Net Folders is not installed as part of the normal installation. You have to add it as a component. You must be using Outlook in Internet Mail Only mode and it is not compatible with IMAP folders, as it requires the use of the rules wizard.
Use Add/Remove components to add the feature.
It is not available in Outlook 2002 (aka Outlook XP).

What can you share?

As well as sharing your calendar which is the most popular use you can also share other folders. This include tasks, contacts and folders with messages. This means that there are many different uses for this functionality.

Using with a Handheld

This feature works quite well with a handheld such as a Palm or Pocket PC. If you have a secretary or assistant who can keep your diary up to date from their own machine, these changes will be in your own copy of Outlook. When you Synchronise you will get the changes on to your handheld. Similarly, if you have configured your synchronisation settings correctly any changes you made on the handheld will be entered in to your Outlook and eventually will appear in your assistant's copy of your calendar. This saves any kind of kludges with two docking cradles, sharing files over a network or moving files around.

User Rights

Net Folders gives you quite a bit of control over what others can do with your calendar via user rights. The basic is to view only, but can go up full control. There are levels in between such as adding entries but unable to delete and modifying entries made by the viewer but not others. This makes it useful to share your calendar with an assistant (with full control) and another person's assistant (view only).

Caveats

• Be careful that you don't expose more information than is required.
• Be careful what you write in the shared folders. Make sure you mark anything private by ticking the box. 
• Also remember that it is not live. Outlook will record changes you have made and send those changes to the people you have shared with at frequent intervals (configure by right clicking on the folder in question and selecting properties -choose the sharing tab). If you are working offline (on a laptop at home for example) then the changes will not be seen until you have sent your email. Similarly, you will need to collect your email before any changes made by others will be seen on your machine.
• When setting up the Net Folders feature it is strongly suggested that you be connected to a network, especially if the folder you are sharing is very large. The initial set up is carried out by sending the folder by email.

Initial Configuration

Setting up and using Net Folders is quite straight forward. Before you start, you need to sure that you have Outlook in the correct mode (Internet Mail Only) and you have added the component using Add/Remove components of Outlook 98 or Office 2000 on both the host and subscriber's machine. If you haven't done this, then the you will not be able to follow the instructions below as the options will not exist.

1. Click File, Share and choose the option you want. If you want to share a folder of messages, choose the folder first, then navigate the menu as before.
2. Follow the wizard to choose who you want to share the folder with. If this is the first time you have used this function, then we would suggest that you only share with one other person to make sure that it functions correctly.
3. Choose the permissions as required. The last choice is only available when sharing mail messages.

That's it. Once you have finished the Wizard Outlook sends out an invitation to the subscribers. Once they have accepted the invitation, a message is sent back and your copy of Outlook creates email messages with the contents of the folder you are sharing. These are then sent to the subscriber. When their copy of Outlook receives the messages it processes them automatically. If it does not, then something has gone wrong (see troubleshooting below).

You can review membership lists, their status and access rights by clicking on File, Share and choose the relevant option.
Properties of the shared folder should be reviewed to make sure you are happy with them. Choose the folder, right click and choose properties then the sharing tab.

Troubleshooting

Net Folders does have a tendency to fail for no apparent reason. Updates will no longer travel between machines or one of the subscribers will not process the updates correctly. The usual resolution to this problem is to stop sharing, reinstall Net Folders and re-enable sharing. However if this doesn't fix the problem, then you might want to look at these other sources of Net Folders information: 

Microsoft's Troubleshooting Net Folders: Outlook2000 (229962) Outlook 98 (196297)
The number after the link is the article number which you can lookup on Microsoft's support web site, just in case the link fails.

SlipStick System's Net Folders Page: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/netfolders.htm
SlipStick System's web site is one of the best sources for Outlook and Exchange Server information on the Internet - their Outlook section home page is at http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/index.htm

Third Party Applications

With the demise of Net Folders for Outlook 2003 third party developers have created replacements.

PIM Share: http://www.pagethink.com/pimshare.asp

Group Outlook: http://www.amarillosoftware.com/products/about_groupoutlook.asp

4Team Solutions: http://www.4team.biz/

There are more applications listed on the SlipStick web site: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/share.htm