Offline Address Lists

MAPI clients such as Outlook 2003 can download offline address lists, so users can compose e-mail messages even when they are disconnected from their Exchange server. To make it possible for clients to download these address lists, you must first create the address lists on the server.

By default, there is an offline address list named the Default Offline Address List, which contains the global address list. If necessary, you can populate this list with any other address list that you have created. You can also create multiple offline address lists that can be individually associated with each mailbox store in your organization. If the users on your different mailbox stores share something in common, such as all being part of the same division, you might want to provide different offline address lists for each mailbox store. For detailed instructions on populating the default address list, see How to Populate the Default Offline Address List.

Default Offline Address List Properties dialog box

Whenever you choose, you can set any offline address list in your Exchange organization as the default offline address list. This new default list is then associated with all newly created mailbox stores. There can be only one default list at a time in your Exchange organization. If you delete the current default list, Exchange does not automatically assign another list as the default. If you want to use a default list after you delete the existing default list, you must manually designate another offline address list as the default.

Offline address lists use system public folders to contain the required address list information. Their associated public folders are created during the public store maintenance interval, and the content of the public folder is updated according to the Update interval that you specify on the Properties dialog box of each offline address list. The Offline Address List (System) public folders are hidden from users by default. For detailed instructions on viewing the System public folders, see How to View System Public Folders.

In a mixed environment where some users connect to Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 servers, and others connect to Exchange 5.5 servers, you must have multiple address lists. Those users who connect to Exchange 5.5 need to use the offline address book that is generated by Exchange 5.5.