You must restart Microsoft Outlook to switch between working online and offline.

1. If you have not already done so, create an Offline Folder file (.ost) (Offline Folder file: The file on your hard disk that contains offline folders. The offline folder file has an .ost extension. You can create it automatically when you set up Outlook or when you first make a folder available offline.).

   How?

   1. On the Tools menu, click E-Mail Accounts, click View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
   2. In the Outlook processes e-mail for these accounts in the following order list, click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Change.
   3. Click More Settings.
   4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Offline Folder File Settings.
   5. In the File box, type the path to the file you want to use as the .ost file.

      The default file name is Outlook.ost. If this file already exists, you are prompted for a new name.

2. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts, click View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
3. In the Outlook processes e-mail for these accounts in the following order list, click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Change.
4. Click More Settings.
5. Do one of the following:
   • To always start Outlook offline, click Manually control connection state, and then click Work offline and use dial-up networking.

   • To choose each time you start Outlook whether to work offline or online, click Manually control connection state, and then select the Choose the connection type when starting check box.

   • To always connect to the network, click Manually control connection state, and then click Connect with the network.

   • To have Outlook automatically detect whether you can connect or not, click Automatically detect connection state. If Outlook is unable to connect with your server, it opens in offline mode automatically.

    Note    To specify the amount of time to wait for a response from the server before you are notified to retry or work offline, type a number in the Seconds until server connection timeout box.