How-To: Create a new Identity

Create a new Identity:

You might need to create a new Identity for testing, archiving or start fresh with a new Identity when rebuilding fails.

1. On the Entourage menu, click Switch Identity. If a confirmation message appears, click Switch.
2. Click New, and then in the Identity name box, type a name for the new identity. After you create an identity, the Entourage Setup Assistant appears and helps you set up your account.

---

Identity Basics:

Entourage stores your data in an Identity. You can have multiple Identities in your Microsoft User Data folder. Examples:

• Office X Identities
• Office 2004 Identities
• Office 2008 Identities

You can't switch to an older Identity without importing the data. In other words, Entourage 2008 cannot read your Entourage X or Entourage 2004 Identity without importing it first.

I do not advise deleting an old version of Office until you are satisified with the import from the older Identity. As long as you can open an Identity, you can export the data manually and import into a new Identity.

You can delete your older Identities, when you are satisified with the upgrade process.

The terms Database and Identity are frequently used interchangeably. Identity is also referred to as "User" by some Entourage users, however "User" is a term used by the Mac OS. Entourage stores your data in an Identity, and the Mac OS creates Users. The Users folder resides at the root level of the startup disk and contains the home folders for all user accounts on the computer.