# Outlook: Retrieving Offline?  Whaaat!?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-retrieving-offline-whaaat/135308>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 5, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-retrieving-offline-whaaat/135308 "2002-11-05T03:11:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-retrieving-offline-whaaat/135308/1 "2002-11-05T03:11:08Z")

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The computer geeks have really got me bamboozled! What is the POINT of this option in MS Outlook? If I DO NOT check this box, and its counterpart about how often to retrieve offline, my Outlook WILL NOT retrieve automatically AT ALL!

What the frick-frack is this? (Are the MS programmers doing some smoking some funky cigarettes on their smoke breaks?) Please explain…and is there any hope for me to auto retreiev without checking these options?

Say, how does one retrieve offline, anyhow?

Thanks,

- Jinx

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**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-retrieving-offline-whaaat/135308/2 "2002-11-05T05:46:52Z")

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It’s a bit much to try to explain in a post, but just call up Outlook help, and enter “offline” in the box. There are a whole bunch of entries that explain what that’s all about. It has more to do with a networked, office environment (and with the possibility that you’ll be working with a laptop that may or may not be connected to said network) than it does with the typical home user, dial-up world.