How to Setup Exchange Outlook on Surface 2-RT:
Surface 2 (or maybe you simply finally successfully upgraded your existing Surface RT to Windows 8.1 (RT) and now you have Outlook 2013 RT.
YAY!
So, now you want to figure out how to set up your work email alongside your personal email. You’re all excited about this new possibility and promptly go to configure it on your Surface 2 (RT) and you get this error:
$#%#%# – insert your favorite expletive. So, now what?
Don’t be fooled by this error, this is not necessarily a connection problem. And don’t worry; this walk-thru can help you. It is a second tutorial in my Outlook Tips series, see all posts in this series.
If you have been using Outlook at work, chances are it is connecting via an Exchange server. Exchange is mail/calendaring/contacts server software from Microsoft and is (arguably) considered the industry standard for corporate mail systems. There are a few things you’ll have to do to connect your RT device to it but aside from being a bit of a pain, it’s not particularly difficult.
Techie Alert: This tutorial is intended for the everyday user. So, concepts are simplified. This is not intended for you techies out there; if you’re a techie, you probably don’t need this tutorial.
Here is what you need to setup Exchange Outlook on Surface 2-RT:
- Your user name and password
- Your Exchange server name
- Proxy settings, if any: server name, principle name, type of authentication
- Domain name
If you don’t know what the hack I’m taking about, I suggest you talk to your company’s email system administrator and ask for the settings. S/he should be able to provide them for you easily. Once you are armed with those settings, follow these instructions:
Note: you must do this in Desktop Mode with Outlook closed. If Outlook is running when you try this, you will get an error telling you to close it and to start over.
1. Navigate to the Mail Settings in Control Panel:
2. In the Control Panel window, double-click the Mail icon.
3. In the Mail Setup – Outlook window, click the Email Accounts… button.
4. In the Account Settings window, click the New… button.
5. In the Add Account window, select the Manual setup or additional Server types option and click the Next button.
6. Select the Microsoft Exchange or compatible service option and click the Next button.
7. Enter the following information, but do NOT click the Next button:
| Server | ExchangeServerName (replacing Exchangeservername with your company’s server name) |
| Use Cached Exchange | CHECKED |
| User Name | username(replacing username with your username) |
Many workplaces place their email servers behind a firewal>. It means that you will have to get past it in order to access your company’s email. This can be accomplished through the use of a Proxy server – and that’s why you need the info from your local email admin. For example, In order to allow a computer to communicate with my work’s Exchange server outside the company network, the connection to the server must be set to use HTTP and Proxy must be configured. Here is how:
8. Click the More Settings… button. As shown in picture above.
9. A Microsoft Exchange window will appear. Click the Connection tab.
a. Check the Connect to Microsoft Exchange using HTTP box and click the Exchange Proxy Settings… button.
b. Enter the following information, substituting with your company’s information, and click the OK button:
c. Close the Microsoft Exchange Proxy Settings window by click the OK button.
d. Close the Microsoft Exchange window by click the OK button.
10. In the Add New Account window, click the Next button.
11. A Connect to server window will appear prompting for a User name and Password.
Note: This will not always happen. However, if your company has two-factor authentication setup, it will show up.
Enter your user name, preceded by the domain name and password:
User Name: DomainName\username Password: YourCompanyEmailPassword
12. A Mail Delivery Notification window may appear at this point. Click the OK button.
13. In the Add New Account window, click the Finish button. Close any remaining open windows and begin using Outlook to access your Exchange email.
That’s essentially how you setup Exchange Outlook on a Surface 2-RT. These instructions will work the same for Surface Pro/2 but you will need to purchase Office 2013. If you use Gmail for your work email follow the instructions on my post, Google mail-calendar for Outlook on Surface RT. I hope this is helpful.
Joanna-
