How to migrate custom categories to other users in Outlook 2002 and in Outlook 2003 (297405)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
This article was previously published under Q297405
For a Microsoft Outlook 2000 version of this article, see 197342.
For a Microsoft Outlook 98 version of this article, see 180303.
For a Microsoft Outlook 97 version of this article, see 164625.

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Outlook, you can add new categories to the default Master Category List. This article describes how to share a modified Master Category List with other users.

MORE INFORMATION

To share the Master Category List, export the Categories key from the registry and distribute this key to other users.

NOTE: The registry key reference in the steps below only exists if the Master Category List has had a custom entry added.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the Changing Keys And Values online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). Note that you should make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat and User.dat) before you edit the registry.

How to Export the Categories Key

  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
  3. Click to select one of the following registry subkeys:

    For Microsoft Outlook 2002:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Categories

    For Microsoft Office Outlook 2003:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Categories

  4. Click the Categories folder, and then click Export Registry File on the Registry menu.
  5. Select a location for the file such as your desktop, type a descriptive name for the file, and then click Save.
  6. Close the Registry Editor.
You can now distribute the file to other users that are also using Microsoft Outlook 2002. This file cannot be distributed to users of older versions of Outlook as the formats have been changed. To update the registry on another computer running Outlook 2002, double-click the <file name>.reg file and the new categories replace the Categories list in Outlook.

CAUTION: This procedure overlays the existing Master Categories List on the receiving computer. Any changes made to that file are lost.


NOTE: It is possible for your records to contain user-defined categories that are not stored in the Windows registry. To ensure they are in the registry, you must add them to the Master Category List.

How to Add User-defined Categories to the Master Category List

  1. On the Edit menu for the Inbox folder, click Categories.
  2. In the Categories dialog box, click Master Category List.
  3. In the New Category box, type the name of a new category, and then click Add.
  4. Click OK twice.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:1/27/2006
Keywords:kbRegistry kbhowto KB297405
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