Tip: BlackBerry - Syncing PIM Data with Microsoft Outlook

By Amy Mayer
February 1, 2008
Setting up your Blackberry to synchronize with Microsoft Outlook means your contacts, appointments and tasks can be updated either from your smartphone or at your desk.

Here's how to do it:

Once you have the Blackberry Device Manager installed, launch it from your computer and click on Synchronize. Select the Configuration tab.

When you click on "configure synch" you'll be prompted with a box that allows you to select the feature (such as address book or tasks) and then select the software that's on your computer (in addition to Outlook, the Device Manager is prepared to work with Lotus Organizer, Novell GroupWise, Sage ACT! and others).

After selecting the appropriate software and whether you want the two machines to be synchronized or you simply want to import or export from one to the other, you can select Configure-->advanced settings to further customize your synchronization.

Here, you can decide which device overrides the other or if you want all data to be shared between the two. You can also apply filters and adjust the field mapping terms.

When you've got the settings the way you want them, click OK on the configuration box and Close on the synchronization box.

Now, when you click Synchronize from the Device Manager, you just have to click Synchronize Now and all your data will be shared. If you click the Automatic Synchronization box then you won't even need to tell the manager to synchronize, just connect your BlackBerry to your computer and your data will flow.